HOW CAN I GROW MY SMALL BUSINESS? Discover 10 Helpful Tips To Scale Your Business From Zero To Hero!

Building a business from scratch is not exactly what you may call fun activity, as there are so many uncertainties - the market, partners, resources, timing, economy, location and the list is endless. So what can you do to increase the chances of getting your business off to a great start? Read on and enjoy some practical insights to grow your business from zero to hero levels!

1. HIRE PEOPLE WHO BUY INTO YOUR VISION

You might have come across this saying - "Where there is a will, there is a way", and true to this statement, the productivity level of your business can be highly?influenced by the mindset of your employees.

As an entrepreneur who is just starting out and does not have heavy funding to source for sophisticated staff, one of?the key criteria to look out for in new hires is a willingness to grow along with the business despite its humble beginnings.

Employing new hires who buy into the vision of your company taps into a vast and unutilized human capacity deeply seated in humans that helps us pull through?tough situations, finding means to overcome seemingly tough challenges.?

Using this strategy during the hiring process helps the business recruit people who will consider the business as a shared responsibility and help?employees see themselves as co-owners in the business and ultimately do everything within their capacity to foster its growth.?

2. RIDE THE STORM LIKE THE EAGLE

Running a business is a task that comes with a lot of unanticipated challenges as well as twists and turns in the business cycle that could take the owners by surprise. However, a closer look at how the Eagle glides through stormy weather can teach a thing or two on how to navigate these stormy situations when they arrive.

Regular birds exert a lot of energy to generate the thrust that keeps them hanging in the sky, on the other hand the Eagle does the opposite of what other birds do in stormy weather - it observes the stormy situation and once it spots the tide, it spreads its wings and rides the tide, using it as a propelling force to climb above the storm.

In like manner, a business could borrow from the wisdom of the Eagle by spotting opportunities that could otherwise be considered challenges, and finding ways to?profit from it by proffering solutions that would help solve those challenges and in return get rewarded for creative thinking.

3. TREAT CUSTOMERS LIKE KINGS

"Customer is King" is a well known cliché, but has a lot of truth in it to determine the growth of a business. Every business thrives on the proceeds that come from?the sales generated from every sale, hence any business that does not give priority to the customer will soon be out of business as customers will naturally gravitate?towards businesses that have excellent customer service.

In the best interest of a growing business, the best way to promote the business is to give customers a reason to want to talk about your business to their inner circle of friends and family. This can go a long way in helping a business gain traction within a short period without having to invest too heavily on advertisement.

This form of customer referral are often the most effective to get high converting prospects, as the hard-work of convincing a client would have been done by the word-of-mouth advertisement of the satisfied customer who makes a referral.

4. RE-INVEST MORE INTO THE BUSINESS

The first few years of a business are the most critical determinants of its survival, hence every proceed that the business generates in profit would be best utilized by re-investing a larger percentage into the business. Re-investing in the business could come in form of buying new tools to make working conditions more conducive or reducing the response time it would take to deliver goods to customers.

Doing this will ensure that customer retention rate increases and customer acquisition cost also decreases drastically thus prompting existing customers to help bring in more and more customers through word-of-mouth referral.

5. PLAN A STEP AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITORS

Businesses that survive in a very fast paced global economy are those that have foresight and can predict what the customer wants even before they know what they want.

This might sound contradictory, but who would have thought that humanity could survive without the internet until the internet eventually arrived? Now the internet has become a part of our every day lives so much that it seems impossible to live without it. This is the shear power of foresight that some people had way before we had the need for the internet which has become mainstream today.

Every business that will thrive needs to have within its development plan a future plan to introduce new ideas that would push the frontiers of the market place such that the business would become known for trail-blazing discoveries that will wow customers.?

6. ATTEND NETWORKING EVENTS

Meeting new people helps businesses create new business ties that have the prospect of opening up new opportunities for business - this is where networking events come in handy to help business owners strike up new conversations that can open up the business to new opportunities.

There are a lot of networking opportunities taking place from time to time, and the internet has made it so much easier to find out the closest event to you - websites such as:?

www.meetup.com?

www.eventbrite.com

These websites can readily show you the nearest events that match your interest within your country or city of residence. Do well to check for the latest event you could attend to meet new people that could help foster new business opportunities.

7. PRACTICE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)

Giving back to society is a critical way for a business to generate goodwill with people living within its operational jurisdiction. This act is also a good way to get people to generate buzz about your business, as they will begin to perceive your business as one that has the interest of the people, and in the process create word-of-mouth advertisement about the brand.

What exactly is Corporate Social Responsibility?

According to investopedia.com: "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental."?

The long-term consequence of CSR creates a vested interest of the people within close proximity to the business - which could later translate into loyal customers who could then become repeat customers helping the business maintain a sustainable productive life-cycle.

8. HAVE AN ACTIVE ONLINE PRESENCE

"Google it" is a common phrase that has become mainstream among everyday users who use the internet today. In most cases, before a customer takes the step to purchase certain products or services, they conduct a basic search to find out about the product online.?

The information made available online in most cases form the primary impression a customer will have about a product, and could influence whether or not they would decide to buy from a business or not. For this reason, it will be risky for a business to keep its activities hidden and inaccessible online.

Take advantage of platforms readily available online to show-case your products such as - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc., to promote your business and in so doing create a link through which prospective customers can easily locate your business from the comfort of their homes.

9. RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITORS

Stay in the loop about trends and happenings within your industry. How you choose to know about your competitors is however dependent on your industry, but a very effective technique to find out what your competitors are doing is to go through the sales pipeline of your competitors by experiencing first hand what every customer who buys from them will experience whenever they patronize their products or services.

Borrowing insights shared by Russell Brunson in his book - 'DOTCOM SECRETS' a key secret to figure out what competitors are doing is to become a customer yourself and that way you get to know their sales process which you could easily adapt to fit your system, or better still improve on it and provide a better offer to your customers.

10. KEEP DETAILED RECORDS

Keeping your accounting records straight and updated is a requirement to help your business to be able to diagnose the financial status such that you can quickly figure out what is contributing to your growth or otherwise and iterate thereby making quick adjustments.

Also proper record keeping will come in handy when you plan to obtain loans from financial institutions or venture capitalists. With a good financial statement that shows your business process is experiencing growth, it is easier to obtain loans from external sources that can help you scale your business.

BONUS POINT:

CREATE LOYALTY PROGRAMS TO REWARD CUSTOMERS

As we have established earlier, customers are the live blood that help a business stay viable, a strategic way to convert your customers into brand ambassadors is by?creating loyalty programs through reward systems that would reward the effort they put in to refer new customers to patronize your brand.

Find out more insights to help boost your brand growth here.