7 powerful strategies to make your business expand

I began my entrepreneurial journey in 2006. On May 2013, I began co-working with my husband, also an entrepreneur.

Have we survived working together? The answer is yes! In these 4 years, we have had over 1000 lunches together.

He is my best friend. We plan and set big dreams together, just like Ellie and Carl from the movie Up.

Source: The Odyssey Online

Our Business Life

2015 was a year of massive growth for my husband’s training company, he was an award-winning business author, who had added 30,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. He built a great global team, thanks to my eye for remarkable talent.

We were both working hard. The business continued to grow.

We had upcoming marketing campaigns to launch, but on June 15, 2015, life took us by surprise. My husband Carlos suffered an ischemic stroke.

He could no longer speak, read or write.

The skills he had built his business on, were now gone. I did not get angry or resent it. I flowed with life to new opportunities.

As H Walker, beautifully said, “the most undesirable circumstances and consequences can lead to the most desirable paths of power, privilege, opportunity, and success.”

While most businesses close or decline due to a medical illness, on the same day of his stroke I took over the leadership of his business. I could not afford to waste time.

Time is precious, irretrievable.

He left a digital footprint, a global brand, and a sales training program that I could continue teaching and selling, even while he was at the hospital.

The business will continue to grow, serve, and prosper until he is 100% speaking again, because of the business strategies that I am going to share with you.

In conjunction, I have also added some useful questions to see where you are the implementation of these strategies.

I hope they get you super excited about 2017!

7 POWERFUL STRATEGIES TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS EXPAND

Marketing & Sales

1. Create a digital footprint.

When my husband could no longer work because of his hospitalization, he had already built a global community.

How did he do this?

Carlos Flores gave lots of value! He created over 100 sales training videos on YouTube that global companies continue to use to this day to train their staff for free.

He developed a connection with his audience. He is the “sales guru,” and an inspiration for the entrepreneur and sales professional around the globe.

He created a digital sales training system to help sales professionals and entrepreneurs increase their sales. His students increased their sales, as a result of their participation, which added more success stories that attracted more students.

This digital footprint has made it easier to sell and market the training program. Curating content and growing your brand is part of your sales process.

Questions:

• Do you have a digital footprint as for yourself as a person or your business?
• Have you built an authentic connection with your audience?
• What if something were to happen to you or the leader of your company, do you have an established digital presence to continue to grow and generate revenue from the business?

2. Market all the time through different mediums

The best way to generate more sales is to have simultaneous marketing in different mediums.

In the past year, I discovered that when I gave a webinar, it converted well, but when I combined it with a great email sequence, social media posts, videos, advertising on Facebook and Google the sales grew exponentially. Using the best tools cohesively is what creates more sales for you.

Marketing is a combination of serving, offering tons of value, with some occasional promotion.

Mom`s are the best marketers.

They are there all the time in many ways; they give you dinner, hugs, kisses, take you to school, pick you up, tuck you up in bed, care for you when you were sick and play with you. They also make sure they let you know what they want from you.

Chores and homework.

By marketing always and through different mediums, you remind your client you are there for them and have the tools to do so.

Questions:

• What marketing channels do you currently use to attract prospects?
• How are you conveying your expertise in your marketing?
• Which are the most profitable strategies up to date?
• What will be the best marketing mediums for you to use in 2017?

Leadership

3. Build a connection with your team

I do not remember exactly, how I told my team the news about my husband's stroke, all I remember was that my team did not quit on me.

I had previously shown them through our many interactions, that they were important to me. I cared. As a leader, I have always seen my team members like equal partners and lifelong friends.

Every team member is valuable to the growth of your company.

They are more than an operator, exchanging their time for a paycheck.

They need to know you care about their dreams and desires. This authenticity builds a connection. A team who is connected is one who brings in more clients, ideas, creates great content, and lasting results. They would continue to move forward with you if challenges were to arise in your business. That is what my team did and I very thankful.

All great companies, like the Zappos, Google, and Apple were grown parting from a team connection.

Here is a sample of a business animation video, that Natalia, a talented team member created. My husband had been less than a month out of the hospital, and the magic was still happening. The cartoon character even looked like my husband. Do you see it?

Thank you to the team: Natalia, Lorena, Niniane, Mariela, Ignacio, and Jacobo for your talent and contribution!

Questions:

• How connected are you with your team?
• What is important to each member of your business family?
• Do you see your employees as operators or partners in your company?
• Do you know and care about their family?

4. Delegate more

You may already be delegating a lot as a leader, but my hunch tells me there is still something you keep doing out of habit when someone in your team could learn how to do it by themselves. According to SCRUM, the agile methodology that is used by many successful software companies, the key to success of project completion is having managers get out of the way.

The whole premise is built on your team being able to figure out things on their own, on the responsibility of the team, not just one individual.

You can read more about SCRUM and the agile manifesto here.

Questions:

• How can you give more autonomy to your team?
• Are you currently in your team's way? In what area?
• What can you delegate more of?
• What can you do to inspire them to achieve more?
• What processes will you implement to ensure delegated work gets done?

5. Prove nothing. Be Yourself.

One of the hardest things, I had to embrace was the leadership succession of a global company.

In the beginning, I was trying to do everything like my husband; that′s what our community expected. I was trying to prove that I was worthy to serve them.

But one day I realized, I don't have to be him because I am not.

If you are leading a company, you must trust that it is your unique set of skills and talents, that will take you to success.

It`s time to start pretending or proving. You just have to be you and hustle.

I have the experience, and I know that what I don't know I can learn or rely on my team or new talent to figure out.

As a business leader, you don't have to prove anything to anybody. You do have BE everything to everyone. There will be colleagues, some unhappy people who will call you out on your mistakes, but you must not let that discourage you.

Embrace who you are, your talents, persona, and even your flaws.

As the wise Salma Hayek said, "I made a mistake. So what! It is my mistake."

Questions:

• What are your strengths and skills?
• What kind of leader do you want to be?
• What do you want to create this year?

6. Use strengths to yield greater profits

At the beginning of the year, I did an inventory of my strengths, which is what I recommend that you do this year.

Where do you excel?

I discovered I was great at presenting a topic in a group, giving spontaneous advice, and inspiring people. As a result, I said, "let`s do some webinars! They will be a great tool to use my skills and gain new clients."

Implementing a new strategy centered around my skills, increased our profits. I was able to reach more people in less time, and since then I have hosted over 30 webinars.

Looking forward to breaking the record this year!

Why did it work? I used my strengths to reach people in a bigger way.

Questions:

• What are your strengths?
• How could that translate into more revenue for your business?
• What are your team member′s greatest strengths? How could that add more revenue to your business?
• What are you doing now that does not use your best strengths? Can you stop doing it? Could you replace it with another income generating activity that uses your talents?

7. Pay attention to yourself

One of the worst things you can do for your business is to work like a robot. This year be self-aware of who you are, where you are personally, with your business, as well as where you are heading with your short and long-term goals.

The best way I have found to recharge my business and be in-tune to myself is through meditation, exercise, and silence. This is a regular practice that successful business leaders have.

This practice also runs oxygen where your brain needs to think fast and focus.

By doing a bit less you can do a lot more.

Also keep in mind, that if you ever catch yourself in a slump, it may be time to switch up your routine. Add some adventure or take something off of your plate that no longer serves you or your long-term mission.

As my great painting instructor once said:

the best way to finish a painting is to step away from the canvas.

Questions:

• Are your activities in line with what you want to create for your business in the short-term? What about the long-term?
• How can you step away from your work throughout the day?
• What can you add or take away from your week to recharge yourself?

I expect great things for you and your business! Which is why I hope these 7 strategies and questions become a helpful guide for you to make 2017 an extraordinary year in every aspect!

Let′s rock 2017, and as always, if there is ever anything I can do to help you just let me know.

Thanks for connecting, you are awesome!

Tanya Flores

Founder of Positive Impact Academy

Article originally published on TanyaFlores.com.