5 Steps Entrepreneurs Can Take to Successfully Grow Their Business
There are various ways through which entrepreneurs can grow their business, such as entering a new market, starting a fresh product line, opening additional physical locations, and more. But, before pursuing any of these options it is important to ascertain the true impact it’ll have, as the wrong decision can harm the business and cause financial strain. In this article Alice Robertson of Tidy Home, explores some tried and tested methods entrepreneurs should consider to grow their business.
Focus on Customer Retention
While a steady influx of new customers is important for any business, the best way to increase revenue is to retain and upsell to existing customers. As reported by Totango, the cost of customer retention is significantly lower than that of customer acquisition. Additionally, as existing customers already know about your brand, it is easier to pitch new products and earn higher revenue.
Hire the Right People
Whether it be marketing, product management, sales, customer service, etc., identify areas of the business where you require expertise and hire the right people. An experienced COO, CFO, CTO, etc. will bring in a ton of experience and ideas to help your business achieve its growth goals. While this will involve a significant investment of time and money, in the long run, its benefits will far outweigh the costs.
Additionally, when it comes to requiring expertise for specific projects, hiring freelancers is the best option. There are various freelancing marketplaces through which you can hire the right professionals at affordable prices.
Prioritize Social Media
Ramp up promotional efforts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and more. According to research by Oberlo, 54% of customers prefer to watch video-based content. Additionally, video marketing can help a business receive 66% more qualified leads than before.
Hence, look for ways to promote your content through short and long-form videos. For instance, if your business designs custom jewelry, you can record videos covering the creation process, unboxing, and customer testimonials.
Additionally, consider running performance marketing campaigns that can help your business garner better brand awareness, higher website traffic, and increased conversions.
Invest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
According to Alaya, more than 50% of customers are willing to pay higher for products from businesses that practice CSR. Additionally, 75% of candidates would refrain from working at companies that have a bad reputation. Committing to CSR initiatives is a great way to develop trust and goodwill with your customers.
Here are some common ways to practice CSR as a growing business:
- Go Green: This can include going paperless, avoiding the use of harmful chemicals in products, and training employees on how to reduce their carbon footprint in and out of the office. Additionally, consider getting a LEED certification which can then be included on the website and promotional materials.
- Volunteer: Look for ways where your business can volunteer in local organizations. This can include helping in clean-ups, spearheading donation drives, spreading awareness about the cause online, and more.
Use a Business Process Management Tool
While growing a business, there will be numerous moving pieces that you as the owner will need to manage simultaneously. This can include implementing new software solutions, creating fresh business processes, managing costs, and more. Supervising these tasks manually will be an uphill battle leading to wastage of time and resources. But, managing your digital processes becomes easy with a BPM tool.
A BPM tool leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze your end-to-end business processes. Post analysis it will provide you with a list of major roadblocks and suggestions for how they can be promptly addressed. Additionally, the tool can be used to automate repetitive processes, reducing the burden on employees’ shoulders and providing them more time to tackle tasks of higher importance.
An added benefit of BPM is it allows seamless sharing of information across the organization. This leads to better cross-team collaboration, reduced delays, and higher productivity.
Growing your business the right way will help take it to the next level and fulfill its true potential. Plan to undertake each of the strategies mentioned above in a planned manner and use a BPM tool to stay on top of business performance and goals.