10 Tips for Consistent Business Growth
December 23, 2021
Everyone wants their business to grow. They may even have a vision of what their business will become. But what does it take to stimulate this growth and sustain it to its maximum potential?
Here are 10 ideas on how to grow your business and keep it growing. After all, growth doesn’t just happen. It must be nurtured, and in the case of a business, well planned.
#1. Develop a company mission
It’s nice to have a vision of success, but what really motivates action is having a mission.
Develop a mission statement that outlines your core purpose and defines what’s important for your business. This statement should be high-level enough that it will remain consistent over the life of your business, but specific enough that it defines your intended direction.
Your company mission defines how you want to serve your customers, and also gives a fundamental sense of what structure you need to develop to complete this mission.
Everyone who works at your company should understand and embrace your mission statement. It represents your values and the actions you take to support them.
#2. Invest in small business marketing
When you start a business, it’s easy to fall in love with your idea — and assume everyone else will as well.
But your wonderful idea won’t make you money unless the right people understand the value you deliver and get to know your brand.
Outline your marketing strategy in your business plan, complete with a sustainable budget. Remember that many businesses must market for months — or even years — before they reach profitability.
Keep in mind that your early marketing efforts will involve a lot of research and testing. It takes time to dial in your collateral and discover your most effective channels.
In today’s competitive world, you need to have the capital to invest in marketing to give yourself a legitimate chance. With smart marketing and the right tools, that investment will pay off.
#3. Be passionate about sales
We can’t overemphasize this enough. Often, the biggest difference between businesses that grow and those that don’t is not the competitive advantage of the offer. It’s how good the company is at selling it.
You may think of yourself as an inventor, fashionista, consultant or accountant. But if you’re starting any type of business, you’re also a salesperson.
Embrace sales. Get training and keep educating yourself. Hire people who are talented at sales. Don’t be afraid to have some people on staff who are aggressive and tenacious, particularly if you’re doing phone sales.
Sales create profits, which drive growth. Be passionate about selling or face the reality that your business growth may be anemic.
#4. Create scalable and repeatable processes
Either your business has standardized processes you can measure, document and scale, or it doesn’t have processes at all.
This includes everything, from how you train new staff to how you reward top performers. Processes are also integral to your customer service.
Following processes ensures that as your business grows, you can stay true to your mission.
#5. Hire people who fit your culture
Today there are many jobs where experience is a secondary factor in hiring.
The reason is that with all the specialized software and offerings, many jobs require on-the-job training. A digital experience that’s over a year old can easily be irrelevant.
Today it’s often a better bet to have a strong sense of company culture and hire to that standard than it is to hire based on experience alone.
A strong culture with the right people helps employee retention, which is a huge factor in business growth. Hire competent, driven people that give a strong impression they’re aligned with your company’s mission.
#6. Evaluate your team’s attitude
This connects to tip #5. Hire — and evaluate — people based, first and foremost, on their attitude.
Today, the right attitude can overcome many other issues. On the other hand, a poor attitude — even when it comes with high performance — creates irreconcilable problems.
The word “toxic” is kind of an overused buzzword people throw around today, but it does kind of get the point. Nothing grows in a toxic environment.
#7. Listen to feedback
Feedback, from both employees and customers, offers key information about your company. Use that key to open the door to great growth.
Make getting feedback from staff part of your regular process. Also, do customers surveys and check online reviews to see what people are saying about you.
As you run a business over time, it’s easy to lose your objectivity. This is your baby, after all.
Getting honest feedback from staff and customers is a powerful way to refresh your view and eliminate biases that may stunt your growth.
#8. Hold regular company meetings
Marketing 360® has hundreds of employees. You’d think it would be hard to have an “all-hands” meeting. But we have one every Friday morning:
This meeting is more than an update on what’s going on. It’s a place where JB offers a transparent, honest assessment of where we are at hitting company goals and fulfilling our mission.
Hold this type of meeting on a regular basis (again, make it part of your process). You want your staff to always feel like they’re in the loop.
#9. Build out your leadership team
Businesses that grow don’t have a leader. They have leaders.
Identify, groom and train people with leadership potential in your company. As you grow, you won’t be able to take the lead on everything, so you’ll need them.
#10. Grow with balance
So you got a big sale and you’re feeling good. Enjoy it, but don’t lapse into the feeling that you’re now on easy street.
Because sometime later, you’ll blow a deal. Reflect on what happened, but don’t dwell on it.
Business owners that create healthy businesses tend to have an even temperament. They don’t get too high in the good times or too low in the tough ones.
That’s because they realize that tomorrow will always bring a new challenge — and opportunity. They know the best moments aren’t as great as they seem. And they know the bad ones won’t last.
Reality — and business success — lives in the middle ground. Be steady and consistent.
Because you don’t just want a growth spurt for your business. You want the even growth that happens over a long lifetime.
Originally published on 4/12/19
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