How to Grow a Small Business in 6 Easy Steps

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When all is said and done, the goal of every company is to grow and expand. We would add that, in the case of the SMB sector that represents as much as 90% of the business population and employ 70% of the global workforce, growth becomes an absolute imperative.

Yes, most companies may be satisfied with their small local fame. But, as we can see, the present-day SMB sector is a crowded playing field, and the organizations that don’t take active steps to branch out are the ones waiting for the competition to come knocking at their doors.

Don’t allow that to happen to you – you need to be the one who knocks. So, let’s see if we can offer a couple of strategies that will help you get there.

Invest in new infrastructure

All empires are built on strong foundations. So, if you want to set your small empire for growth you will need to provide it with infrastructure that will be able to sustain the rapid expansion and workflow changes. For a start, you should start using Cloud-based productivity tools and services since they offer excellent scalability and feature transition-friendly pricing models. Second, try to automate as many processes in your company as you can. Putting repetitive tasks like workflow management under the control of AI will allow your company to absorb a lot of shocks that come with rapid growth and increased workload.

Focus on core activities and stay financially savvy

If we take Australia as an example of a developed country, we will see that out of all of the failed small businesses vast majority had to close doors due to financial mismanagement like cashflow issues and inaccurate business records. You need to be very savvy about these things and if you are not ready to manage them on a large scale, it’s extremely advisable to outsource them to a professional third party. Your focus should be on the core company activities that are actually generating revenue. If you want to make some internal upgrades, they should focus on workflow, productivity, and staff training.

Try out new ways for reaching out to customers

Growing a company inevitably entails having a constant influx of new customers. This can be best achieved by trying out new marketing channels and strategies. If we once again go Down Under for an easy example, we will see that an experienced content marketing agency in Sydney can take a relatively unknown company and completely overhaul its marketing arsenal with lucrative assets like social media content, video production, live streaming, and podcasts. These channels speak to a completely different audience than your traditional pay-per-click ads so it’s more than recommended to give them a try.

Focus on analytics and always have a plan

Even though they have a plan of eventually branching out, most companies out there don’t have a clear and realistic plan that will lead them past this milestone. Don’t make such a mistake. All of the initiatives you are going to take in the future need to be deliberate, meant to produce measurable, time-restrained, and accomplishable results, and based on hard data. Pay special attention to the latter part of this tip since any kind of long-term strategizing is impossible without a serious big data game and thorough analytics. Also, set up relevant KPIs to assess how successful your actions are once they start rolling out.

Understand the risks and rewards

Expanding the company almost certainly means making more than a couple of leaps of faith. That doesn’t have to be a huge problem if you have a crystal clear understanding of the risks and rewards that are associated with such actions. Knowing the potential benefits should allow you to engage in second-level projections and plan out future moves. On the other hand, being aware of the worst-case scenario will help you to prepare the contingencies for it. All these things are a perfectly normal part of the business world so approach them the same as everything else – clear-headed and with two feet on the ground.

Provide excellent service to existing customers

Last but not least, we would like to remind you what most growing companies often forget – although your goal lies in attracting new customers, the bulk of revenue necessary for getting there comes from the existing clients –  some surveys indicate this number goes as high as 61% while loyal customers worth to the company ten times more than first-time buyers. So make sure to keep this revenue flow stable and provide the existing clients with all amenities they could possibly imagine – top-tier and 24/7 customer service, instant problem solving, and discounts aimed at encouraging repeat business.

We hope these few strategies gave you a general idea about what it truly takes to grow your company and help it join the major league. Granted, there are a lot of smaller short-term initiatives that would provide you with lucrative but equally as short-term results. That’s fine and well, but if you want to succeed you should set your sight much further and take actions that will encourage the growth of your company in the long run. True success comes only from comprehensive internal changes.