Owning your own business is an intimidating prospect. If you are a solopreneur, you have to wear many hats from the first day that you launch your brand. Even larger businesses that have been established for years require intelligent decision-makers who can guide the future of the company so that it continues to grow.
There are probably a thousand ways that you could grow your business. The key is determining which areas need to be focused on that will provide the greatest return on investment for your efforts.
Whether your goals are to increase sales, offer new products, build a better team, or have more efficient operations, here are some ways that you can grow your business.
Maximize Your Team
The most important resource that you have is people. Without them, your business cannot succeed, let alone grow. Sometimes, the best way to secure the future of your brand is to build up your team. Whether that means maximizing your current employees’ potential or hiring the right people going forward, you should cultivate a team that can work cross-functionally and efficiently. A great culture is also a huge factor in getting the most out of your workers, so focus on building team cohesion as well as finding the right candidates.
Eliminate Busywork
Busywork is a detriment to potential growth. If you or your employees are stuck doing repetitive tasks that take them away from innovation, product development, sales, and building relationships with customers, then your growth potential will always be limited.
There are multiple ways to eliminate busywork from taking up too much time. The most useful method may be to invest in better applications and software programs, like accounting software for nonprofits. There are so many incredible technological innovations that allow businesses to automate and offload logistical tasks to artificial intelligence, CRMs, and other programs. These platforms allow your teams to communicate across departments more effectively, track and access data efficiently, and automate processes that waste time when done manually. Update your technology stack to eliminate busywork and improve the company’s potential for growth.
Improve Marketing Practices
The most obvious way to grow a brand is to increase sales. How do you increase sales? Focus on marketing initiatives. There are many ways to invest in cost-effective marketing, one of which is with promotional products. If you are a business that depends on the local community for your customer base, this method is especially useful.
Promotional products spread brand awareness by displaying your company’s information to the public whenever they are used. Examples of common promotional items include custom pens, tote bags, water bottles, stress balls, mouse pads, and articles of clothing. When you give away these items to employees or customers, the exposure for your brand goes up with each use of the item. With the right investment choices and strategy, this marketing method can generate tons of impressions for your company and create new customers.
Offer a New Product/Service
Consumer needs are changing all the time. If you can meet more of those needs, then it could be time to offer a new product or service to your customers. Diversifying your offerings is a great way to bring an influx of new customers, and upsell the customers you currently have. Whether this means adding to your service packages with additional features or creating an entirely new service, meeting additional consumer needs can increase brand loyalty as well as your sales.
Once you add a product or service, you will need to market the new offering effectively to get people excited about it. This is also true when updating old products. You can run a digital marketing campaign, host some promotional product giveaways and contests, take advantage of referral programs, or run a print campaign.
Partner with Other Organizations
Increasing your customer base can have a huge effect on your profit margins. Working with other businesses in a similar industry that are not necessarily direct competitors can give you exposure to new audiences and greater brand awareness. Plus, if the organization you partner with has a great local reputation, it will elevate your level of authority in the community.
Working with local non-profits is particularly effective when trying to improve your brand image and communicate your values to the public. It makes for great PR, which can directly influence growth potential.
Conduct Additional Industry Research
Understanding the best ways to promote growth for your business, either through sales, expansion, new products, or maximizing operations, starts with research. What are competitors doing to stay relevant with audiences and how can you keep up or gain an advantage? What do consumers want from the products and services that you are providing? What marketing channels are most effective for the various stages of the buyer’s journey, and what messaging will drive customers to take the desired action?
Any growth strategy should be backed by data, which can only be collected through heavy research. Do your due diligence and craft a plan using some of the above strategies to promote growth for your brand.
