So you’ve got a business, and it’s doing well. So, how do you grow your business? The most successful companies are constantly seeking ways to improve, whether it’s by providing better products or implementing more efficient processes. Here are some ideas for taking your company to the next level.
Symptoms That It’s Time to Grow
You should always be looking for ways to grow your business, but there is such a thing as too much or too fast growth. Take, for example, American Apparel, which opened roughly 300 locations within six years after its debut, then went bankrupt , filed for bankruptcy, and closed all of its stores, opting to become an online-only business. What is the takeaway here? Make sure it’s the proper time to build your firm with the best SEO Company in Bangalore before you put too much time, energy, or other resources into it. Here are a few indicators.
Your business is expanding
If your market or industry is expanding, it may be time to expand your company as well. Real estate, hospitality, and consumer retail, according to a survey by financial services firm Fundera, are among the fastest expanding businesses in the United States right now. Jim Patterson, the managing editor of The Kiplinger Letter, discusses a few additional businesses that he believes will see significant growth in the next five years, including cannabis, online grocery delivery, and health care.
The cash flow is consistent
Check to see if you’re financially ready for expansion. You should have a few years of consistent revenue and a continuous flow of new consumers before taking any substantial initiatives. “There is a demand,” said Paco de Leon, founder of The Hell Yeah Group, a creative financing firm. “Stable earnings imply you’ll be able to grow sustainably, and you won’t be putting the cart ahead of the horse.”
More is desired by your customers
It’s probably time to expand if you have more business than you can handle. Of all, rapid sales increases aren’t always indicative of significant demand; they could simply be a fluke. As a result, make sure there is always more demand than supply. Do they want a variety of things that you could provide? Customers should be interviewed. Inquire about their satisfaction, interest in new items, and general comments about your company. Then, when you receive responses, search for patterns. Customers that want more of your product, faster delivery, or more services should contact you.
Have you decided to move forward? To get you started, here are a few suggestions. Getting additional consumers is perhaps the most obvious strategy to expand your business. Whether the customers are consumers or other enterprises, there are a few SEO strategies to accomplish this.
Get to know your current consumers a little better
“To understand what people truly want, you have to figure out what their genuine difficulties are,” said RamitSethi, CEO of Growth Lab, an online business consulting organization and author of the New York Times bestseller “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.” Determine what prompted your present clients to purchase your product. This can assist you to figure out what you’re doing properly and which marketing methods aren’t worth your effort. Mr.Sethi conducts tens of thousands of interviews with his customers, many of whom are themselves, business owners, to identify their pain spots and recommends them to do the same. The following are the questions he poses:
- Tell us about the events of your day. What are the highlights? What are the most difficult aspects?
- Have you ever purchased something similar?
- If you had the power to wave a magic wand, how would you define success?
Inquire about their business and revenue goals if your organization provides services to other businesses (known as B2B). These interviews can be conducted over the phone or via email. Choose a diverse range of consumers, including those with whom you connect frequently and those who just use your services on occasion. In either case, the interview process can assist you in determining what is and is not working in your marketing.
Determine what distinguishes you
Many entrepreneurs get their start by replicating the business model of a competitor. However, if you want your business to grow, you’ll need to distinguish yourself and develop a distinct brand identity. Customer interviews can also be beneficial in this situation.
Give it a shot: Create a persona for your ideal buyer. Write a quick bio of who he or she is before and after acquiring your goods or using your service for him or her. You may have done this when your company first started, but it’s critical to keep this avatar updated as your company grows.
Enlist the assistance of others
Affiliate marketing entails a third-party selling your goods or service in exchange for a small commission. This might be especially beneficial for B2B enterprises, which can leverage their existing customers to spread the word about their products to their customers. With the support of like-minded firms, bloggers, or influencers, this is a smart approach to advertise and extend your reach. (Of course, you should double-check that these aren’t direct rivals.) You can try to contact potential affiliates on your own, but make sure you have a system in place to track link clicks and transactions. You can get started using tools like ClickBank and Rakuten.
Build a bigger online presence
Even if you don’t have an internet business, developing your online brand presence is critical for getting your goods in front of more eyes, particularly if you sell directly to consumers. Consider the following strategies:
- Consistently publish stuff: Whether you use a blog, newsletter, or Twitter account to distribute material, writing frequently will keep your fans interested and engaged in your business. To schedule posts and shares, use apps likeHootsuite and IFTTT.
- Maintain your brand’s identity: Make sure the content you upload on whichever online platform you use to market your business is consistent with your brand’s identity. If your business is about simplicity and minimalism, for example, you probably don’t want to post about the best Black Friday deals.
- Organize a sale: Create buzz for your company by holding a giveaway or contest. Lonely Planet, for example, uses Instagram to encourage people to post their trip images in the hopes of having them included on the Lonely Planet page. This broadens their audience and allows users to promote Lonely Planet at no cost to the company.
Marketing techniques should be split tested
You can experiment with a variety of rapid marketing “hacks”. Split testing, often known as A/B testing, allows you to put these techniques to the test to find which ones work best. For example, you may compare the effectiveness of a green “purchase now” button vs a yellow one in converting customers to your website. You might also split test the following:
- Which of the following email subject lines has a greater open rate?
- Which of these web page titles receives the most clicks?
- Which days do you post on social media and get the most engagement?
- Split testing is likely available in the marketing tools you already use in your organization. This feature is available in HubSpot, ConvertKit, and Google Ads.
Get Things Done Quicker
The pace with which your company runs will have a significant impact on its bottom line. “Speed is the most important element for a startup entrepreneur,” said Patrick Bet-David, former financial adviser and current C.E.O. of PHP Agency, Inc, an insurance agency.
“The faster you move, the faster your firm will grow,” he remarked. There are four different operating speeds to consider:
Speed of operation
Your business’s operating speed refers to how quickly the basic, day-to-day tasks of your company are completed, Mr. Bet-David explained, “The more help you have, the faster you can function.” The larger your team, the faster you can work in general.
Example: You sell tangible goods on Etsy and handle all of your business’s chores by yourself. You design the product, handle social media, ship it, and respond to customer feedback. You could hire an assistant to help you distribute things and manage social media, and your company would be considerably more efficient.
However, this does not always imply recruiting people. Switching Internet providers, for example, if your Wi-Fi is poor, could vastly improve your operating performance.
The rate of processing
The time it takes you to get a product to a consumer is referred to as your processing speed. Mr. Bet-David explained, “In real estate, this would be the time it takes to go from ‘I want to buy a home to closing on the home.”
Example: You own and operate a financial consulting firm. You spend days emailing each other to schedule your consulting calls when you have a new client. To eliminate the back and forth, use an online scheduler like Calendy or Square. Your client can now schedule all of their sessions in one go.
Focus on efficiency to increase this pace. Make a note of all the stages required in processing a sale in your company, and determine if any may be eliminated or consolidated. To boost this speed, use platforms like Zapier, Hootsuite, and Hubspot to automate simple business tasks. In return, for example, can automate and accelerate the process for you if you spend too much time dealing with consumer returns. Alternatively, perhaps your invoicing system has an extra step that you could eliminate to speed up the process.
Timing speed
Using the appropriate timing to grow your business is what timing speed is all about. It entails seeking out possibilities and becoming comfortable with taking a step back to take a few strides forward. Mr. Bet-David explained that this one is more difficult to plan for. “It’s something intuitive people excel at.”
In 2005, when gas prices were rising, Mitsubishi took advantage of the opportunity and offered new customers a year of free gas in the form of a prepaid debit card. According to Heinz marketing, the cost of this incentive was small overall, but it increased sales by 7.2 percent. Even better, their brand perception was enhanced as a result of it.
Focus on opportunity and placement to improve your timing speed. Look for pain spots that clients may be experiencing right now and possibilities to help them solve those issues. Consider the optimal moment to launch a marketing campaign for your goods if you’re planning to do so.
Speed of expansion
Expansion speed refers to knowing what your next business move should be and when you should do it. But, Mr. Bet-David cautioned, keep your ambitions in check. “A company that is attempting to grow too quickly is worse than a one that is attempting to grow too slowly.” Expansion speed is more about recognizing when it’s time to expand than it is about expanding right now.
For instance, suppose you own a furniture rental company that specializes in real estate staging. It’s going well, but you’ve observed that a lot of your clients are asking for children’s furniture, which you don’t have much of. You decide to extend your business and rent out children’s furniture after interviewing your clients and investigating their demands. You’ll do this the following year when business profits are expected to rise by 8%.
Conclusion
Focus on strategy and planning forward to accelerate expansion. Mr. Bet-David stated, “Most entrepreneurs have no notion who their target customer is.” “You must first determine who is in your niche, then determine where your market is.” Again, knowing where your clients reside, where they hang out online, and what they’re looking for is crucial. Google Keywords, Google Trends, Quantcast, and Market Samurai are all useful tools for this. You can also conduct interviews and polls with your current consumers.
