Terri Ramsey Beavers Is your business getting stagnant? Are things starting to feel too comfortable? Many businesses go through this stage and it’s usually an indication that you need to scale and grow. In business, if you’re standing still, you’re going backward, as the old saying goes. Here are five actionable tips that you can apply to supercharge your business and get the ball rolling again:
1.Develop a System
Before you can scale any business, it’s important to build systems. This allows you to produce results based on a predetermined set of steps and it makes it hard to mess things up. Consider investing in small business IT support to help you build systems that’ll boost productivity, efficiency, and customer retention.
2. Invest in Branding and Advertising
Take a page out of Coca Cola’s book. When the company first started, it sold nine glasses of Coca Cola a day in its first year for five cents each. Since then the company has grown to sell over 1.9 billion servings per day through amazing marketing that has trained by customers’ brains to associate their brand with a feelings of happiness, relaxation, friendship and love.
Develop your brand using creative marketing strategies such as social media, influencer marketing and pop-up events. A stunning website and engaging an SEO agency to promote it to target clients online is another key to broadening your brand’s reach. Through creativity and using the right tools, anyone can successfully market their business, regardless of the niche or industry.
3. Use Online Videos
Video is one of the best ways to engage with customers and transform your business. Online video enables you to communicate information visually and verbally so that people can absorb it quicker and more efficiently. It also allows you to capture and maintain the viewer’s attention for longer.
To get the desired results, you must create high-quality content with appealing audio and visuals. The content of your videos should also provide value to the viewer and help you establish credibility and video testimonials. Tutorials, quick tips, and video testimonials are a few digital assets you can employ to help give your brand a refresh.
4. Think Big
Your business cannot reach greater heights if you don’t have a big vision for it. Craft an ambitious vision statement for your business that’s aligned with your goals and values, and make sure it’s set in five or ten years from now. Remember that Apple grew because of a big thinker named Steve Jobs. The same goes for Amazon and Jeff Bezos or Harpo Studios and Oprah. Any scalable business that you can think of has a visionary behind it.
5. Spend Smart
While you’re building your business and growing your customer base, cash flow is a huge concern. Revenue can fluctuate from month to month, but most expenses will remain even in the lean times. Protect your cash reserves with smart decisions that will save you money without compromising your image. For example, serviced offices can provide all your requirements for just a fraction of the cost of purchasing or renting. On the labor front, delegating certain tasks to freelancers can save you thousands in payroll costs and other overheads.
Conclusion
Aside from maintaining a healthy bottom line and keeping customers happy, the goal of any company is to scale and grow. If there’s no improvement and growth in your small business, then there’s a reason to worry.
The good news is you don’t have to stay in a rut if that’s where you find yourself. Apply the tips in this article and whichever strategy you pursue and persist in will get you results.