WAYS TO TRACK BUSINESS GROWTH

WAYS TO TRACK BUSINESS GROWTH

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Business owners and entrepreneurs are usually excited and eager about the new year. As an entrepreneur, we know you have an outline of plans and strategies you desire to execute in the year.

Year in, and year out, you start the year on a high. But along the line, it seems things are going amiss. So what could be going wrong? What’s happening?

What’s happening is that you have not been keeping track of your business growth. You keep pumping in money and deploying strategies, but you have no idea if they are successful.

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Business growth is the concept of how your brand is going. It could be either negative or positive. All classifies as growth. The trajectory the business is headed then determines your next course of action.

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In this article, we’d tell you ways to track your business growth to have a strong brand.

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Why You Should Track Business Growth

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Before going any further, let’s discuss the importance of tracking business growth. When we tell business owners to track their business growth, they ask us why. For those who wonder why they should track business growth, let us explain with the points below.

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●????Helps with money management

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Without a doubt, money is an integral part of any business. The finances you get from the business could help with running business operations, employee salaries, etc. Therefore, it is essential to know how effectively and adequately manage any money that comes into the business.

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Sadly, you can only manage your money when you understand your business growth. For example, how you spend shouldn’t be the same at various seasons of the year. You get to know and understand your peak periods when you track your business growth.

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By tracking your business growth, you know when the business gets the highest inflow of money. So, you can afford to use the money for various strategies at this point. However, you’d need to be more prudent with money during periods of low cash inflow.

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Tracking your business growth helps you see your money from a different perspective, as you’d have a better bond with the business. In addition, it enables entrepreneurs to understand the concept of using money to invest back into the business to boost the brand.

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You might feel that you have a good grasp on your business money. However, it can be better when you begin to track your business growth.

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●????Enables development of growth strategies

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The concept of tracking your business growth also applies to the development of growth strategies. But first, what are growth strategies?

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Growth strategies are the plans and processes you wish to deploy to ensure your business stays on top of the game. With the understanding that there are other players in the industry, entrepreneurs are constantly brainstorming ways to surpass their competitors.

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Sadly, your growth strategies will only work if you understand your business trajectory. For example, you deploy high-level growth strategies during your peak sales period. However, it wouldn’t make sense to do so as you already get high sales during this period. It would be a waste of time, energy, and resources.

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Instead, you should deploy these growth strategies during your low sales period. It helps to give you more sales, gives better visibility, and can even go further to increase market value.

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Brainstorming growth strategies isn’t an easy process. Therefore, we advise you shouldn’t waste your growth strategies by deploying them at the wrong times.

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It is best to study and know your brand by tracking business growth. Then, you can know the best times to deploy the growth strategies and enjoy the benefits.

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●????Helps to identify risk factors

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Did you know that you can be running a business but still live in a bubble? Sadly, many business owners live in a bubble. They believe that everything is going well and their business is stable. But is the business stable?

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We always advise all businesses to have a team that is specially dedicated to risk assessment. But if you do not track your business growth, you wouldn’t be aware of these risks, which can endanger your business in the long run.

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A business can face compliance risks. The fact that you haven’t encountered issues yet with the authorities doesn’t mean it cannot eventually happen. Is your business compliant? Does the running and operations of your business align with laws and regulations? You can get answers to these questions if you track your business growth regularly.

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Although this article is not dedicated to business risks, many financial risks are associated with running a business. It is what leads to the shutting down of many organizations.

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Your aim should be to run a brand that stays relevant for years. Therefore, you should track business growth to determine risk factors early and devise solutions to combat these risks.

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●????It enables you to get more customer insight

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So, you have been running your business for some years, but the business is stagnant. You have consulted people and deployed different strategies to boost the business, but nothing is working. The business isn’t gaining new customers, and your marketing team is under pressure as it seems nothing they do is working.

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The issue could be that you need to understand your customers or target audience. On the other hand, it could be that your marketing communications are targeted at the wrong audience, or they are using the wrong concept to communicate to your target audience.

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This happens because you do not understand your customer insight. And it is because you have not been tracking your business growth.

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In this case, tracking business growth means finding out the type of people who patronize your business and make repeat purchases. How often do they buy? What sort of buying behavior do they exhibit? Have they made remarks or feedback that you can incorporate?

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Once you begin to dig deep and get answers to these questions, you will track business growth and understand your customer insight better. Only then would your business begin to grow as you would know what to do and what to avoid as it concerns your customers.

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●????Allows for prioritization

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Another importance of tracking business growth that is important for all business owners is that it allows for prioritization. Yes, we know that you may need clarification while reading this. What does prioritization have to do with running a business? We will explain!

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The idea of prioritization in running a business is essential. It lets you know what to do at the right time. For example, you are deploying many strategies targeted at your external customers. Your sales keep increasing, and the business is moving. The organization has a steady cash flow, and you believe nothing could go wrong.

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However, your internal customers (employees) are not happy. It could be that they feel overworked or overwhelmed. Therefore, we advise you to give adequate attention to your internal and external customers.

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If you are not in the habit of tracking business growth, you wouldn’t know your employees' worries. To you, the business is growing. But it is collapsing internally.

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It is always best to remember that human structure is vital in running a business. With this example, the priority should be employee experience.

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So, track your business growth to ensure that all aspects of the business are moving at the same pace.

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How To Track Business Growth

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Now that we have explained the concept of business growth and its importance, let’s check out ways to track it. These will come in handy for all business owners.

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You can track business growth by:

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●????Customer acquisition

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How regularly does your business get new customers? Are your customers the same people patronizing your business for years?

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Of course, keeping your old customers is fine. But there is also a need to acquire new customers. If you rely on only your old customers, it shows that there isn’t enough business growth, and your brand could classify as a lazy one.

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If you are not proactive, your competitors will keep taking all new customers. Therefore, your sales and marketing team should always be following up on new leads. Your business trajectory would increase when you regularly acquire new customers.

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●????Customer retention

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Now, let’s talk about your old customer. Business growth can also reflect in how your customers make repeat purchases. There are instances where people patronize a brand and do not buy from that brand anymore. It shows they must have had a bad experience with the brand or something is wrong somewhere.

You can track your business growth by checking how people make repeat purchases. Yes, you are gunning to get new customers. However, it doesn’t mean you should drive away your old customers.

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As a business owner, you should build a bridge in marrying all customers. Your brand has positive business growth when your old customers are intact.

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●????Revenue

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Why are you running a business if you’re not making a profit from it? There is no need to still have a business if money isn’t coming in. So, revenue is one of the ways you can track business growth.

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It is a negative sign if you notice that you spend more than you gain. It helps you have a sense of awareness and know that you need to backtrack to improve things.

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The goal should be to increase your revenue yearly. It gives a boost to your brand, and you will be glad that you did. In addition, higher revenue makes you a happier business owner.

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●????Higher sales

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Is there any business owner who wouldn’t be happy to have increasing sales? Of course not! Everyone wants to increase their sales; it is why entrepreneurs put pressure on their marketing and sales teams to get new leads and follow up on old ones.

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Your sales rate is a factor you can use to track business growth. If people are always purchasing things from your brand, it shows high business growth and is a momentum you need to maintain.

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The more sales you make, the higher the revenue the business generates and the more customers you will get.

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●????Employee performance and productivity

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How well are your employees performing? It is an important question to answer as a business owner. In addition, getting the answer to this question helps track your business growth.

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If you did not know, your employees are your internal customers, and you also need to make them happy. When your employees are happy and satisfied, they will perform better, boosting your business.

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Sometimes, you could be the reason why your employees are not productive. Are you giving them a reason to want to remain with your brand? Is your brand contributing meaningfully to their career goals?

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It would be best to focus on your internal employees the same way you focus on external ones.

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Cheers to more increases as you do business this year! We are rooting for you!