20% of all small businesses fail in their first year. Yes, you heard it right!
We can attribute that to a lack of planning and jumping into action immaturely. But when we tell you that 50% of small businesses fail after five years of operation, it tells a different story. It means that the businesses started strong but failed to grow.
Starting a business is tough. Growing it is tougher. It is a harsh truth that your business won’t survive if it becomes stagnant. You need to constantly grow in different aspects to keep up with changing demands and competition.
Understanding how to grow your business or company will determine your success or failure in the long run. As the saying goes ‘slow and steady wins the race’, you need to be consistent in your efforts without rushing. These top five tips to grow your business will only work when you apply them consistently and with discipline.
Top 5 Tips you need to know when growing your business
The Covid-19 pandemic was yet another reminder of how things can go awry without notice. Businesses had to find new ways to make themselves relevant. Those who failed are probably out of business now.
If your business is steadily growing, you are at a better place than most when it comes to dealing with tumultuous times. Growth, however, does not happen overnight. The very essence of development is in constant endeavors and steady progress.
With our five tips for growing your business, you will better understand what to do and what to avoid. These tips will give you the groundwork from where you can give your business a foundation of growth. But remember that until you put these to application, they are nothing more than empty words.
1. Identify your core customers
It is true you cannot make everyone happy: the adage is as valid in business as in life.
Not every customer is equally interested in what you do or what services you provide. We are not asking you to ignore your non-regular customers, but you should not plan your policies and schemes to cater to that customer base. Instead, start focusing on a core group of customers.
Your core customer base would be people genuinely interested in what you do and provide. No doubt this would be a small section of your customers, but they are the most loyal ones. These are the people who connect to your brand on an emotional level. When you grow your business in a way that serves these customers, you will be in a mutually beneficial position.
How do you identify your core customer base?
By collecting data about them.
There are many ways you can do this. You can do it yourself or outsource the work. Outsourcing is not an option for everyone, and it should not be a hindrance either. Learn how to use social media to identify your core customers. It is a great place to begin, and surprisingly easy once you get the grasp.
2. Use social media
If you run a business without social media presence, you are missing out on the most significant technological gift of the 21st century.
The pros and cons of social media is not our subject here. For businesses, social media is a great tool that all entrepreneurs should make the most of.
90% of social media users use these platforms to connect with brands. If you have an active social media presence, half the game is won.
Social media is not only about marketing your business. With Facebook and Instagram analytics tools, you get to learn about the demographics of your customer base. It is very relevant to our previous point. Facebook and Instagram analytics show you the demographic information of your core customer base. Then, you can come up with schemes and policies keeping this core group in focus. You can’t forget about the most promising network called Twitter. Twitter is one of the most popular networking sites among users and a very good site for business owners. If you are willing to grow your business then, there is no doubt that you need to increase Twitter followers to reach your target profit.
You increase the reach of your business with an active social media presence. That means more people get to know about your business from social media. You can find customers from outside your immediate boundaries. Doing all of that without social media is both difficult and improbable.
Start with learning how to use social media. From content marketing to customer research, you can do a lot over social media platforms. The data and information you will get are invaluable for the growth of your business.
3. Be a socially responsible brand
Social responsibility is as much an ethical and moral concern as it is a commercial issue. We are no longer in a time where people do not care about the source of their products and services. Looking at the bigger picture, it is a trend for the greater good. If you resort to immoral or unethical practices, it is time you change your ways.
As the commercial world is all about marketing, you also need to market that you are a socially responsible business. But do not impose your charitable actions on your customers. If you force them to donate to a noble cause every time they buy your services, it’ll have a negative impact on your business.
Tell your customers that a share of your revenue goes for a social cause. Show them what your business does for the underprivileged. Make your customers feel that by associating with your business, they are playing a role in the greater good of society.
As in many other cases, social media plays a huge role here. You can accept donations from social media platforms or talk about your new initiatives. The goal is to create a good brand image, and being socially responsible is one of the best ways to do it.
Being socially responsible also means complying with regulations and rules of the governmental authorities. For example, you should never tamper with the confidential data of your customers. Respect all mandates about consumer protection, like California’s recent CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act). Acts like the CCPA empower customers and, in some cases, businesses as well. Stay away from anything that forces you to breach these laws. Your brand image will suffer if you fail to do so.
4. Research your competitors
We are not asking you to focus on your competitors. That would be a recipe for disaster. If you spend all your time focusing on what your competitors are doing, you will ignore your own business.
Researching and analyzing your competitors is quite different from obsessively trying to figure out everything your competitors are doing. Knowing about your competition gives you a perspective on what direction to take for maximum growth. It is also a great learning opportunity. Learn from other people’s mistakes before making them yourself.
Social media (once again) is a great tool to learn about your competitors. You can easily see what they are up to and all about their new offers, plans, and initiatives. You also get information on the top players in your sector. When used correctly, this information will help your business grow immensely.
Do not fall into the trap of trying to emulate what your competition is doing. Researching means you see what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. If something aligns with your goal, implement it in your business. As cliche as it may sound, you should always be yourself.
5. Be creative and open to new ideas
What if one morning you wake up and realize that all conventional wisdom about business is not working out for you?
If everything about entrepreneurship could be theorized, we would see business degree holders running all enterprises. On the contrary, only 9% of business owners have any form of formal business education or degree.
Entrepreneurship is not a watertight box with set rules and regulations. When you study the history of entrepreneurs, creativity drives success more than anything else.
But how do you become creative? Will a crash course in creativity help?
No, it won’t. The best thing you can do to be more creative is to open yourself to new ideas. Follow this precept: learn, unlearn, relearn. Do not be dogmatic about your beliefs, and acknowledge a good idea when you come across one. Overcoming a closed mindset is the first, and most important, step towards being more creative.
Conclusion
When you decide to start a business, you will be full of enthusiasm and excitement. You will have big plans for your business and feel invincible. That is, until reality hits.
We will not sugarcoat facts and tell you that anyone can run a successful business. If it were true, we wouldn’t see so many companies failing at different stages. The truth is that starting and growing a business requires a lot of sacrifices, hard work, and mental strength.
However, all who believe in themselves can run a successful business. Anyone can achieve what it takes if they are willing to learn and improve. Our list of tips is guidelines for you to work with. It is not an exhaustive list–you can add 50 more tips and yet find some missing.
Start with just one of our advice, and work on it until you feel ready to move to another. Remember that Rome was not built in a day. Be consistent and disciplined in your actions, and your business will surely flourish.
Let us know in the Comments section below what tips would you like to add to this list.
Author Bio
Atreyee Chowdhury works full-time as an Instructional Designer and is passionate about writing. She has helped many small and medium-scale businesses achieve their content marketing goals with her carefully crafted and compelling content. She lives in Bangalore, India with her husband and parents. She loves to read, experiment with different cuisines, travel, and explore the latest content marketing and L&D trends in her free time. You can reach her on Linkedin
