10 Quick Tips for Growth Entrepreneurs
Growth entrepreneurs are those who really want to grow their businesses beyond what creates a comfortable living for them and their families to something that has a much wider impact. While many jobs are created by startups and small businesses, business expansion has a much larger impact on the overall economy.
Many studies show that companies often want to grow, but they often don’t know how. They think more marketing, more effort, and more time spent on their business will automatically create growth. The reality is something more complex. Here are ten tips for growth entrepreneurs who want to grow their business further but might feel stuck.
Track Your Cashflow and Never Run out of Money
Many startups focus on profit, and not cashflow. Cashflow is the money you have to conduct day to day operations. If you own a pizza restaurant, and you have a good profit margin, but you run out of money at the end of the week to purchase the ingredients for more dough, you can’t keep doing business.
The key is to focus on both cashflow and profit, and never run out of money. Before you go spend that money on a digital marketing campaign that sounds great, make sure you have your operations budget covered first. The failure to properly track and manage cashflow is the reason many businesses don’t succeed and even close in the first few years they are in existence.
The key is to start small, scale, and do what you can afford.
Know Your Niche and Your Market
This tip feels like it should go without saying, but many entrepreneurs start their businesses with a knowledge of one market segment and they stay there. But markets and niches change, and it could be that by offering one small additional service or product, or by making a small change, a business can grow substantially.
What does this really mean in the day to day operation of a company? Ask your customers what they need and determine if there is something more you can do for them. If there is, do it.
Get to Know Your Current Customers
One of the best ways to know your niche and your market, and therefore to grow, is to get to know more about your current customers. You can do this through surveys, social listening, website analytics, and just having conversations with them. Knowing what your current customers want and need can drive your next business innovation and spur growth.
A common mistake startups often make is to focus so much on finding the next customer, they fail to get to know the customers and clients they already have.
Offer Exceptional Customer Service
How do you keep those current customers happy? How do you turn new customers into regular customers and clients? How do you stand out from your competition? Offer exceptional customer service. Customers can compare companies based on price and many other factors, but they most often return and do business with companies who they like to do business with.
Nurture Your Customer Base
Do you offer coupons and reward programs for loyal customers? Referral bonuses? Do you upsell when practical and applicable? Do you keep in touch with your current customers on a regular basis?
While there are any number of ways to nurture your customer base, the important thing to remember for growth is this: if you keep your current customers happy, they will become ambassadors for you and spread the word about your business to people they know. According to PR Daily, 83% of consumers buy based on the recommendation of a friend.
Look for New Opportunities
Is there an ideal place for you to open a second location? Is there a small company you could partner with (or even purchase) that would allow you to offer a new service or reach more people? What opportunities does your company have to expand in new areas?
The key is to keep an eye out not only for traditional opportunities, but the chance to innovate. If you can offer a unique product or service that meets your customer’s needs, growth is nearly assured.
Automate Whenever Possible
More often than not, entrepreneurs who want to grow will talk about the fact that they don’t have time. That is often because they are too busy doing things they shouldn’t. Many things, like basic social media management, website responses, and other items can be automated.
Even an A.I. chatbot can field many common questions, interact with customers for you, and only pass them to you when essential. Automation of processes has come a long way, and it allows you to focus on more meaningful activities.
Focus on Marketing and then Advertising
Marketing is made up of both research and practice and involves both paid and free methods for reaching customers. Advertising is the practice of reaching your customer. The more research you do ahead of time, the more likely you are to reach the customers who will actually buy your product or use your service. Always do the research first, so your advertising efforts re most efficient.
Don’t Get Distracted by Something Shiny
Innovation is good, but it is easy to get distracted by something that is not really an opportunity. The modern expression for this is to “stay in your lane.” Evaluate each new “thing” you see as either an opportunity or a distraction. Ask yourself:
Does this serve my current customers?
Is this something I can easily add to what I am already doing or offering?
How much will it cost to set this new thing up?
How much time will it take? Do I have the time to dedicate to this task?
Do I need to learn a lot more to make this work?
Remember when we said that entrepreneurs are “too busy” to grow? This is often why. They will get distracted by a “new thing” that may or may not fit in their niche, and instead of remaining focused on what they do and do well, they pursue a tangent that ends up being unprofitable, or worse something they can’t execute well. This results in the opposite of growth.
Finally, take care of yourself. Your business is you, and you are the heart of it. You can’t grow your business effectively if you are stressed out, strung out, low on energy, or even worse burned out. To grow your business you need to do some basic things.
Take time for your personal relationships.
There are several items that could be added to this list. Essentially, if you don’t care for yourself, no one else will. There will also be no one to run your business, and it will not only stagnate and fail to grow, but it may even fail.
Want to grow your business and be a part of the growth entrepreneur world? Are you stuck without a plan to move forward? Follow these tips, take the time to evaluate where you are and where you want to go from here, and you can find your path to success.
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