by constructaquote - 25 January 2018
When you’re trying to grow your business, it can be frustrating waiting for the growth to occur naturally. Even if your business is doing ‘ok’ and you are comfortable with it’s current turnover, this can be a risky position to be in as markets or customer habits could change. So, if you’ve decided it’s time to grow, here are a few ways to take your business to the next level.
1. Focus on growing one product or service
When Steve Jobs took over Apple for the second time he stripped the company of lots of products in order to give the staff time to develop and sell the ones he believed were the future. He felt as though they were wasting their time building and selling too many things and that their energy would be better focused if they were working on a few key products that would sell better. He transformed the business from almost bankruptcy into a technological giant. This is what you need to do. Take a long hard look at the products or services you are selling. Which ones make you the most money? Which ones are the easiest to sell? Focus your time and resources on selling these instead of wasting it on other things.
2. Focus on sales
Selling can be hard and trying to get people to part with cash is not always easy. Without sales you won’t last very long at all so it is crucial that you take the sales of your business seriously. Make them a key part of your business plan from the get-go and develop your growth strategy around them. Establish a plan for how and when are you going to sell more products/services and what costs would be needed in order to achieve that. Do you have some top sales staff that are outperforming some of your weaker team members? Maybe it’s time for a staff re-shuffle in order to hit the sales targets you need in order to grow your business.
3. Find ways to increase sales to your existing customers
Are your existing customers coming to you regularly and asking you for additional products or services, but you keep having to tell them it’s not something you offer? If so, it’s time to find a way to accommodate them – or your competition will. Whether it means hiring the talent you need to take on the extra work, or launching new products or services, finding a way to give your customers what they need will keep them using you for longer.
4. Hire someone to help you
Maybe you are at full capacity and you just don’t have the time to get out there and bring in more clients because you’re too busy. Why not hire someone to handle the workload so that you can focus on ways to grow your business? Or if you would rather do the work yourself then hire someone who can bring in new clients for you. It might seem scary to expand to the point of extra staff, but if you want to grow then you are going to have to take the next.
5. Join forces with other businesses
Perhaps you’re always being asked to provide a product or service that you cannot offer, so you recommend someone else because you know that they do a good job. If this is the case you can bet that this person is turning away people asking for the service or product that you provide, and maybe they are sending their clients to one of your competitors. Why not team up and agree to cross-refer clients to one another? These kinds of mutually beneficial relationships work well because both businesses are given great referrals and the client gets to work with someone who comes highly recommended. It’s win-win for everyone.
See if these tips can help grow your business.
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by Charlotte Houghton - 7 October 2020
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