Being an entrepreneur is hard. Scaling your business, getting the right footing is a difficult job which requires you to take up multiple jobs and responsibilities at the same time. One minute you were handling social media and the next you’re required to take at the business end of things.
You have to familiarise yourself with all the aspects of a business, take risks, interact with your customers you have to agree that being a business owner is a tough job. In this article we’ll give you tips on how to best grow your business organically and inorganically.
13 helpful tips for small business growth in 2021
If you are struggling during these hard times, we are here to help you. We understand that Starting and managing a business isn’t easy. It requires planning, research and ideas on how to effectively grow your business which is why we’ve come up with 13 helpful tips to help grow your business even amidst the pandemic –
- Understanding the market demand – Ask yourself questions like what do my customers need? How can I make their lives easier? What problem does my product / service solve? Make your company website/ social media page whatever medium, make it interactive where your customers can give you their honest feedback on your product and improve on their suggestions.
- Customer retention – The customer is always right. Sometimes in order to retain a customer you may be required to go above and beyond for them. Taking the extra mile for your customers is like an investment. When a customer leaves happy and satisfied he /she is far more likely to recommend your brand to their contacts.
- Studying your competitors – Knowing what your competitors are doing is being strategic and smart. Do thorough research on how your competitors are marketing their product to its customers. What is their unique selling point and how can you make your advertising better?
- Balancing between old and new customers – Take care of your existing customers. Oftentimes what may happen is when new businesses focus on acquiring new customers they may pay less attention to their existing customers. While it is important to any businesses to gain new customers, retaining the old ones is just as important.
- Social media tools – Social media is the new form of advertising especially in the times that we live in right now. Make use of as many social media tools as possible to gain visibility and to increase sales. If you aren’t an expert in handling social media then you can always hire someone to take care of it for you or partner with a digital marketing agency.
- Be an active part of networking events – Attend virtual networking events. Networking events are important for a business as in these events you get to build relationships with potential customers who can also refer your products to other people.
- Analysing your data – Reevaluating what works and what doesn’t work for your company helps in correcting mistakes and changing strategies. The world is constantly changing, what worked 50 years ago won’t work now and similarly what works for one company may not work for yours.
- Giving back to the community – People resonate more with a brand that’s humble and believes in giving back to society. Use this opportunity as a way of creating brand awareness for your customers. You can do this by sponsoring local events in your community. Use social media to share useful verified information about Covid-19. This is a great way of showing your customers that we’re all in this together.
- Organising virtual events – In times like these we all need a safe space where we can laugh or lend each other a helping hand. Organise virtual events with comedians, artists whatever that resonates with your brand and get as many people as you can to participate.
- Business analytics – Studying the analytics which are provided by google is another way of growing your business. When you study the analytics of your business you learn what works and what doesn’t work. Maybe the campaign you thought was working brilliantly isn’t giving you the desired results. Google Analytics will provide you with information on page visits, average time a customer spends on your website, and how your audience is arriving on your website. All of this is important information for your company’s growth.
- Risk taking – Growing a small business comes with it’s own risks. While sometimes taking a gamble on the big things might pay off other times it may not. Sometimes you’ll be required to make certain decisions that let you step out of your comfort zone. Before you start anything new, analyse all the risks, familiarise yourself with the challenges you may face, being prepared is always the right step in growth.
- Maximum utilisation of resources – Temporarily fixing a problem without actually fixing it’s main root cause can be damaging to any business. When you are working on a tight budget, it may sometimes be impossible to take the right decisions as they could be expensive. Create a plan that feels comfortable and is scalable.
- Keeping a backup – Always have a backup plan that’s ready. There may be times when you have to face some unforeseen expenses or delays in product deliveries or any other problems. Having a backup plan will help you in times of need. For example – you are an event management company that is organising a wedding and on the day of the event you find out that your caterer has backed out due to some reason. In situations like these, instead of panicking, coming up with a solution that will make the event run smoothly is important and that can be achieved if you are prepared for a backup option.
In Conclusion
Managing a business is not an easy task. You will have to multitask and be constantly on the lookout for chances of growth. Many businesses get intimidated by what they’re competitors are doing, when that happens remember to have faith in your product and to focus on what makes your brand unique from the rest.
