Statistics show that 50% of new businesses survive 5 years. Why does this happen? What do the ones that succeed do right? Where is your business at? Businesses experience several changes within their first few months and years in business. Keep reading to learn how you can grow your business.
Stay Organized
While it may seem obvious that organization is an important part of your business, it will become harder to stay organized as you continue to grow and hire more people. You can increase your focus on organization by making it a part of the work routine for you and your employees.
If everyone spends the last 10 minutes of their day straightening their workspace, getting rid of trash, and making sure that they are prepared for the following day you can stay on top of organization. Employees preparing for the next day ahead of time can help everyone be more productive first thing in the morning.
Show Up in Search Results
Whether you sell a product or offer service, you need to be relevant on Google and other search engines. Local search is still how several clients will find you and if you aren’t visible, it will be hard to work with you.
Investing in learning about Search Engine Optimization (also known as “SEO”) and how you can improve your approach will help you rise in the rankings. Take note of what others are doing well in this area and see how you can adapt those strategies to your business.
Focus on Data Management
Data is everything in business. It is the catalyst for changes to be made and gives you the information needed to make decisions about your business.
Investing in master data management can give your business the information it needs in real-time and mesh the business and IT forces to make the most of your business data. This is an important investment for your business because you cannot afford to fall behind the competition or industry with data management. New information comes in quickly and having a system that can handle and repurpose this information is vital for success and growth.
Goal Meetings
Does your business set yearly goals? How often do you check in on these goals? What happens if you hit a goal early?
Goal meetings are important as a business grows for a few reasons. First, accountability is the name of the game. If you wait until halfway through the year to check in on your goals, you may be playing catch up. Working as a team to hit the revenue and other goals you have is important and these meetings will allow everyone to share their input on how they think you can improve.
Sometimes you hit your goal earlier than expected. When this happens, you can use this meeting to set a new goal and celebrate achieving the previous one.
Don’t Stop Learning
Business education is a nonstop journey of learning for employees at every level. There are new areas and updated information to be trained on daily. Incorporating learning and continuing the education of your staff can help set your business apart.
A business that starts off with 10 employees will operate differently than one that has grown to 200 employees. Knowing how to navigate these waters will help your whole team be a sponge for information and turn it into action.
Investing in a guest speaker to present on a Friday afternoon or sending your IT team to a tech conference are ways to accomplish this.
Survey Your Customers
What do your customers like most about your business? What changes would they like to see made? How are you going to make these changes?
Whether it is through testimonials or survey questions, it is important to gain feedback from your current customers. Finding out what makes them loyal to your business and why they make repeat purchases is the valuable information that you need. Presenting new ideas or concepts to your customers can also be beneficial when you are trying to gauge the future success of a new product or service. Their feedback early in the process can help you fine-tune it before you launch.
Learn From Your Competition
What thoughts come into your mind when you think about your competition? How are they doing things differently than your business? Where do you see room for your business to grow in comparison to them?
Sometimes there is a negative connotation when thinking of competition within business, but there can also be an opportunity to learn. Take note of what they do well and see how you can apply it to your operations. You can also learn from their mistakes and try not to make the same ones.
Innovate
Does your business encourage innovation? How are you planning for the future to stay relevant?
The past year has been an excellent example of businesses that innovated in order to stay in business and ones that were slow to change or refused to. Finding new ways to reach customers and enhancing your customer service experience is extremely important to growth in the future. Businesses that never innovate will have a hard time continuing to see growth year after year.
Encourage Creativity
How do you encourage employees to present new ideas for your business? Are there ways for them to channel their creativity at work?
Creating an environment as you grow that allows for creativity in the workplace will help your business from becoming stale and doing the same thing year after year. This can be as simple as challenging your employees to a competition in which you see which team can find the most unique idea or offering a reward for certain ideas. Changing the layout of your office space can increase productivity and creativity at the same time.
Take Action Today
Now that you have read more about tips for business growth, you can put these into action today. Whether you are a startup or have been in business for 20 years, there are always opportunities to grow in new ways. Check out our website for more informational business articles like this one.
