“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”
– Napoleon Hill, author
Your shop’s been running well for a while. You’ve got more investment. And you know it’s time to up the game.
But you’re stuck. You feel like you’ve exhausted all avenues of business growth. You don’t know how to scale up or grow your business. And you need help.
And that’s exactly what we are here for.
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Why is business growth important?
Business growth is expanding your business to new areas. You can grow by adding new products or introducing new features.
The importance of business growth depends on the stage of the company.
An ambitious startup would like to secure its position in the industry by claiming new avenues, whereas a mature company would want to grow in terms of size.
So, you can measure business growth in multiple ways. For example, an increasing number of employees, an increase in revenue, or an increase in customers are common ways to know.
Growth practices for Business growth
Here are some good practices you should follow to get back on track.
1. Ensure good Customer Service
In today’s fast-paced world, customers look for fast service. They are always on the go and enter the shop with a clear mind of what they need. So, you need to train and educate your staff on how they should serve your customer.
Let’s say a customer walks into your computer repair shop. He booked online appointments, through your computer repair shop management software but he came in early. Don’t keep him waiting if there is nobody else in the queue. Instead, treat him like a king.
2. Give your customers what they want
Remember that your customers come to you because of the unique value that you provide to them. You have that selling feature that your competition does not offer. Your responsibility is to keep serving it, no matter what the situation is.
For instance, IKEA is known for the low-priced, high-quality furniture products it offers. In 2008, the world faced a recession, but IKEA continued to provide what it promised. They researched their production costs, found unnecessary costs, and managed to keep up with the expectations.
3. Have a plan for everything
Whether you are changing the storefront of your store or working on a new quarterly strategy, know that you need to have a plan to achieve it.
Ikea didn’t go into production cost control straight away; they followed a 4-way plan for that. Most of them ensured new retail stores openings, increased operational activities, and introduced an efficient supply chain protocol. They gave decision-making authority to the employees for resolving customer issues fast. All of this for the customers it values the most.
4. Have systems in place
Having standardized systems, procedures that your outlets follow helps in many ways. In this, you can have a centralized information system for your whole business growth. Moreover, expansion through franchising would never be a hassle. With the system in place, no outlet would seem different than the other.
An example could be the repair shop software, cellphone repair businesses use. These are systems tailored to the custom needs of the business. With these systems, you don’t just manage your checkout transactions and terminals. You can do more. You can view analytics such as analyze your sales, even manage your inventories as well as employees.
5. Sustainable Business Growth
You don’t just want to grow; you want to grow sustainably. The idea here is to incorporate long-term values by considering the economic, political, and social aspects.
You could use your customer as an essential asset if you get to know him and his preferences to achieve this. First, you need to get an idea of what he wants to see. Then, work to achieve that and grow sustainably over time.
6.Value the people working for you
“Happy employees lead to happy customers, which leads to more profits.”
– Vaughn Aust, EVP of Integrated Solutions, MarketStar
Business growth is not only the result of company vision; in fact, it needs motivating employees. Employees that work day in and day out to help achieve company goals.
You need to realize that employees are your asset. You need to treat them like one. So offer casual hours, trips, picnics, holidays, and bonuses. All this makes them feel like an essential part of the company playing a significant role in its growth.
7. Be aware of your environment
Ever found yourself sitting at a party and being zoned out for a full minute? This minute is of great importance, as you may not know that the floor has started to crack and a hole could eat you up.
The biggest mistake any business growth can make is being unaware of the need of the hour. As environmental factors change, so do the business dimensions.
The introduction of repair shop pos software was another turning point for such repair shops. As these systems were powerful enough to manage the whole process. From online appointments to managing repairs given to each employee. Another strong feature was their integrated inventory management feature. This was widely accepted for business activities, pretty much became a standard procedure. If you didn’t have one, you are losing.
8. Have all your ears on what customers say
The whole concept of running a business is giving your customer what it came for in the first place. If you don’t know what it is, how will you provide it? For this, you need to understand them better. Use channels such as company profiles or customer reviews; know what is important to them and why? Engage in talking to them, develop your product or service through feedback. Your customers will help you shape it the way they assume it to be.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, is a real example here. He is available on Twitter to everyone and anyone who wants to talk to him. Once a Tesla user gave him the idea of adjusting the steering wheel while parked. Intrigued by the idea, he ended up making it into a reality.
9. Keep your eyes open
A business growth stands out when it does something exceptional. So if you keep an eye on changing demographics, you can find opportunities. Things that make you noticeable or ahead of time.
When we talk about endless opportunities, you can quickly think of google, a search engine, which is the product of two young minds who found the linkages between web pages. They aimed to provide the world wide web with a much faster, accurate, and reliable search engine. Then they expanded into news, maps, drive, and availability into other languages. They were eating the competition real bad.
10. Engagement has to be there
When you started to work on that robust dream of yours, you were ambitious and determined. You were ready to give what it takes.
It should still be the case.
If you are losing the drive after these years, it’s a sign that you are less engaged. Remember, this is your dream. You are the one responsible for growing it. So give it the time and attention it needs. Engage in activities that make it all worth it.
In conclusion, business growth takes you closer to success. With good growth practices in place, you can stand out on every step. Entail practices that resonate with the core business values that you provide. Either by good customer service or better quality.
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