by constructaquote - 20 October 2017
Do you have a successful small business that you’re looking to grow? Do you dream of one day handing over the reigns to a dedicated manager, who can take care of a bustling team of staff all serving your clients to the highest standard?
If you want to grow your business, there are some vital steps you’ll need to take…
Too many small businesses are lagging behind on the internet. In this day and age, your website or social media accounts will often be the first representation of your business to a potential client. Your website is your receptionist. You would expect your receptionist to look professional and treat potential clients with care and knowledge. It needs to look modern, be easy to navigate and be written professionally. Your social media accounts should also reflect your wealth of knowledge in your industry so that customers perceive you as the experts. Do this by sharing content, advice and tips that people will find interesting and useful. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is, the key to attracting the new clients that you’ll need to grow your business further is to have an excellent online presence.
What services or products are you offering? Which of them is bringing you the highest profit? This might not be the one you necessarily sell the most, but it has the biggest yield in terms of the work you have to put into it and the return you get. Concentrate your efforts on selling this product or service more than anything else. The more of it you sell, the more money you’ll make and the faster your business will grow. It’s all about investing your time in the right areas and avoiding wasting it on the wrong areas.
Most small businesses struggle with bringing in more clients. Think seriously about hiring a salesperson. Once you have the right person in position and they’re bringing in more work then you can look to expand your staff to help you with that workload.
The ideal scenario is that you would find a salesperson who was willing to be paid solely on commission as they bring in new work for you, but there aren’t many out there who will do this. LinkedIn is the best place to search for them.
There might be clients who ask you to complete elements of work that you can’t commit to, but there could be other local business people who have the skills to complete that work. A good way of growing your company is to partner with other businesses in a similar industry and cross refer work and clients. You’ll have the benefit of never saying no to a client and hopefully you’ll receive some work back. This also works if you’re selling a product or service that they can offer to their customers, and vice versa to yours.
Collect email lists and send out a monthly newsletter. Maintain a social media presence. Network. Post and comment on items on LinkedIn. Make sure that people can see you and your business all the time. This increases your brand awareness and makes people feel comfortable approaching you with work.
How many of your clients come through word of mouth? You can ramp it up further by asking your happy clients to recommend your business and asking them to give you a reference to display on your website. This is especially important if you are working with a recognised brand.There is no better marketing than word of mouth so treat every customer and client (no matter how tricky they are) as good as your next.
You’re not the first person to try and grow a business. There will be people in your local area who have done the same. Learning from others is vital. Consider getting yourself a mentor; someone who has been where you are and can help you to make the right decisions at the right time and provide valuable advice. Be aware of people who will try and sell you their services as a business development manager, there are plenty of knowledgable people who will mentor you for free.
Have you got the right business insurance in place to protect you from expensive claims?
by Charlotte Houghton - 7 October 2020
by constructaquote - 6 October 2020
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