As a small business owner, it can be challenging to get your startup off the ground and thriving. Many small businesses fail within the first five years of operation, but you don’t have to become part of that dismal statistic. Whether you sell clothing or offer plumbing services, here are six tactics you can use to grow your small business.
1. Automate Your Marketing Strategy
Marketing is one of the most important things you can do to boost your sales. A good marketing strategy can get your name out in front of a broad audience and increase brand awareness. It can also help you establish your company as a trustworthy leader in its industry. Unfortunately, marketing effectively requires a lot of research, time, and effort. You may not have the bandwidth as a small business owner to dedicate to an exceptional marketing plan.
Automating your marketing strategy may be one of the wisest decisions you can make as an entrepreneur. You can find marketing automation software that helps you manage all your social media platforms from one convenient location. Some software also uses AI to help you create and post high-quality content regularly. To get the best bang for your buck, look for software that integrates with other frequently used apps such as Facebook, Google, and Mailchimp.
2. Hire the Right Team
Professional sports teams are very careful about which players they choose to represent them. They want players who can work well together and help the entire team have a successful season. With similar scrutiny, you should be highly selective about who you choose to drive your small business toward success.
When hiring team members, look for individuals who are genuinely interested in helping the company excel. They should know how to work hard and tackle responsibilities that may not necessarily fit nicely into their job description. People who work for small businesses often need to wear multiple hats until the company grows large enough to hire more workers. Look for professionals who will do whatever is needed without grumbling.
3. Make Data Security a Top Priority
Launching any professional endeavor is naturally fraught with risks. However, it’s crucial to minimize your risks as much as possible. In particular, you should prioritize securing your data so you don’t become an easy target for thieves and hackers. It only takes one significant data breach to lose the trust of your customers and staff.
Hackers and data thieves sometimes target small businesses because they often don’t have reliable security measures in place yet. To avoid being victimized, secure your networks using antivirus software, an encrypted firewall, and securing your Wi-Fi network. Train your employees on how to spot phishing emails, avoid downloading anything suspicious, and use safe internet browsing practices. You can further secure your network and data by enabling multi-factor authentication for all logins.
4. Boost Customer Retention
You can’t expect to grow your business if you don’t work hard to keep your customers happy. You may be able to survive for a while on the purchases of new shoppers alone. However, if you want to experience sustainable growth, you need to earn the loyalty and repeat business of your customers.
To increase customer retention, you must make customer satisfaction a top priority. Train your customer service team on how to resolve conflicts quickly and treat disgruntled shoppers with kindness and respect. You can also earn repeat business by implementing a loyalty program that rewards shoppers for their purchases and helps them earn discounts and other prizes.
5. Invest in Yourself
When your business starts bringing in a profit, it can be tempting to pocket it all. You’ve earned it, after all. However, it’s vital to reinvest some of that money back into your company. Doing so will help you meet your growth goals more quickly. Being wise with your money now will also help you reap larger profits down the road.
There are many ways to invest in yourself. You may wish to put some of your profit toward new product development or stocking up on inventory. Or you might decide it’s more important to hire additional staff who can help you meet increasing customer demands. Identify an area that could use improvement, then dedicate some of your profits to supporting that particular need.
6. Diversify Your Services or Products
As your business expands, your products and services should grow along with it. Each year, analyze your current offerings and figure out how you can diversify them to increase customer interest. For example, you could launch a brand-new product or offer a best-selling product bundle for a reduced price.
If you’re not sure what new products or services your customers want, consider doing market research. You can collect valuable research information directly from customers in the form of focus groups, interviews, and service or product use research. You can also perform secondary research on your target audience using government statistics or pay-to-access market reports.
No matter what industry you’re in, it’s vital to learn how to scale your business responsibly. Avoid becoming another failed startup by using these strategies to take your business to the next level of growth and long-term success.