Tips On How To Grow Your Business

Business owners forget that they are not serving the business, but the business is there to serve you. Many entrepreneurs feel like they are slaves to their companies or businesses. This can be caused by various reasons such as feeling out of control or feeling that they keep working at every moment of the day, or feeling like there is not enough time to handle all the things that need to be tackled.?

Business owners should always look for solutions to their business problems and any form of business support from wherever they can get. It will help take some pressure off their shoulders and allow them to focus on the one thing that made them start a business in the first place; making a profit. Chances are, most business owners are conversant with the business they are running, but what about when it comes to handling the numbers or formulating a solid business plan or taking business calls, or even handling social media accounts while you have a lot of paperwork to do?

There are some tips we can apply to grow their businesses as entrepreneurs. These tips are fool-proof and have been applied by most successful entrepreneurs to reach the heights they have attained in the field of business.

TIPS FOR GROWING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS:

Increase the retention rate of your clients

As a business person, your client base is one of your most important assets. If a client has used you before and is satisfied, chances are they will come back again. It is a lot cheaper to sell goods to existing customers than to do business with a new one. So it would be in your best interest to try as much as possible to keep customers happy. Ask yourself these questions;

• What will make my business stand out among competitors?
• What did that customer like or dislike about my business?
• What must I do for an existing customer to come back?

There are a couple of strategies that can help you retain your clients. Some of them are;

• Get customer surveys.
• Run loyalty programs.
• Engage in social activities.
• Email campaigns.
• Customer follow-up.

Increase the frequency of your transactions

As stated earlier, it is much easier to convince existing customers to buy from you than it is to convince new customers. So you should put more effort into making existing clients patronize you more often. Some strategies for increased transaction frequency include;

• Reminders and newsletters.
• Special offers and loyalty events (no obligation/social).
• Introduction of membership/VIP cards.
• Booking meetings.

Increase your business transaction value

This is not exactly the same as increasing your product prices but increasing how much value you add to your clients. Give them a range of different options, sell them what they want to buy, and instead of assuming they already know what they want and what you sell, ask them.

Some strategies for an increase in transaction value include;

• Up-selling and increasing prices.
• Proposals with a lot of options.
• Discount for some add-on sales (purchases must be made before discounts).

Reduce variable costs

Variable costs are those costs that tend to increase as you increase sales. There are ways to reduce these costs like;

• Record materials/time properly.
• Supplier terms.
• Avoid wastage.
• Use better systems.
• Make alternative purchases.
• Introduce early payment discounts.

Reduce any overheads costs

Variable costs are not the only costs to be reduced; overhead costs need to be looked at. These overhead costs are your fixed costs, and they may include interest, power bills, phone bills, etc. Review these costs as often as possible. Also, endeavor to go through your financial records and see where reductions in costs and savings can be made. Some strategies for this reduction in overhead costs include;

• Looking for better terms.
• Bank interests.
• Power and phone bills.
• Review of recurring purchases, etc.

Create more leads

For your business to grow, you need to be able to generate more leads. But before you can do that, you have to know the answers to some questions;

• Who is your target audience?
• Where do you find them in large numbers?
• How do you reach out to them?

The answer to these questions will help direct you toward the right marketing to the right people. You can start with the Marketing Funnel, which begins with a member of the target audience that hasn’t responded to marketing. Once the person does, they become a market lead.

It is always important to follow up leads and give them the chance to purchase, and they may turn from leads to prospects.

This means you have moved from the generation of the lead phase to the phase of sales since the prospects might not have been considered potential consumers. After purchase, they are now consumers, and after multiple sales, they can now be called loyal consumers. Now, you can make them advertise for you and generate more referrals. Loyal customers who refer you to others can get incentives like referral bonuses.

You can even create a Customer Relationship Management system. If you have one, fine, but if you don’t, how do you keep track of your leads to ensure proper follow-up?

Some strategies you can employ are;

• Attending social events.
• Newsletters and social media.
• Networking.
• Website articles and blogs.
• Strategic alliances and open days.

Increase your rate of conversion

How do you measure your rate of converting proposals, quotes, and leads into sales? Have you thought about why you are not doing enough conversion?

You need to identify stand-out team performers with higher conversion rates and even confirm that you are using the right people and sales processes. You also need to ensure that you are dealing with decision-makers when you work with clients. If you do not measure your conversion rates, you need to begin now. Some of the strategies to help are;

• Proposal with options.
• Sales training.
• Guarantees and a good follow-up system.

In the end, improvement in these areas will have a positive effect on your business in terms of profits, sales, and growth. Just have a business plan to help you achieve your goals and key performance indicators to measure your progress.