The goal of any business is to expand and grow. Most entrepreneurs enter into running a business with a vision of what that might become, and growth is often necessary for survival in a highly competitive marketplace. Many businesses can stagger along for a while at a sustenance level, but that’s not what most leaders want – and certainly not what any investors want. Boosting a small operation into something profitable that generates consistent income, contributes to the local economy through providing employment and custom and serves customer needs is the ultimate end result that you should be aiming for. And for this you need one thing – a growth strategy. Working from your original business plan, a growth strategy bridges the gap between where you are and where you want to be, and with careful planning and some added investment, can pay dividends.
Growing Your Existing Market
This is the most applicable growth strategy for a lot of businesses, especially ones who have strong relationships with customer advocates, a good understanding of the market they operate in and a good niche in what they do. Don’t make the common mistake of immediately thinking about how to get new customers all the time when your existing customers are the best bet for maximizing your sales. It’s a much greater return on investment if you can get people who already understand what you do and are happily buying from you to increase their spend or branch into new products or services. Customer retention is a very cost effective strategy, and whether that means winning new forms of business from existing clients or increasing the average basket spend on an ecommerce website, it’s a tried and tested form of business growth that should be your first port of call.
Develop a Referrals Scheme
Second only to increasing business with your existing customer base – Getting them to recommend you to others! Although there’s no reason why these two complementary strategies can’t be used together. The best recommendation for your business to someone who hasn’t dealt with you before is a glowing review from a customer that they know. So setting up an incentivized referral scheme is something that should be top of your list for consideration. Actively seek referrals out by using tools on your website and social media to make it easier for others to share what you do – and add something for them into the deal. Leverage the power of social media and let your customers spread the word about you, or use testimonials as a key part of your marketing strategy.
Extend Your Reach
When you’ve set the two strategies above into motion, you can move on a third front – extending your market reach. This is a big shift that generally requires preparation and investment. You might find that you need to scale up systems and processes pretty rapidly if this takes off – everything from taking on additional staff to purchasing or hiring new machinery, expanding your office space, taking on virtual services to help you with business support processes such as chasing up invoices or accessing customer data – the exact nature of it depends on your business. It may involve opening new physical locations, or even virtual ones like an online shop. You should support this move with a targeted advertising strategy that drives up brand awareness and conversions within new customer segments to generate more demand. Often with this strategy it can be a little chicken-and-egg – you need the growth in sales to fund the expansion, but you need to expand to service those additional sales. So be prepared to seek out growth capital funding to give you some financial breathing room while your business makes the expansion. If you have a solid business case and some proof of the demand, then aim to leverage relationships with existing funders, or target a specialist growth funding provider for support. This move takes a lot of careful planning, but it’s one which can take your business into another league.
Focus On Reducing Costs
This one may seem like it doesn’t belong on the list, but actually contraction is a form of growth. Because what you are trying to do is increase profit and grow your bottom line – and that can be done without expansion. The difference between pre and post tax profits can be a huge one, which makes constraining costs a highly effective growth strategy – and one that can be combined with others on this list. You may look at liquidating products which aren’t performing well or cutting loss-leader service, or you could focus on improving your inventory turnover. Either way, a well-thought out cost containing strategy can equal growth on paper which can prepare you for an expansion by creating more working capital to expand in another direction.
Last Friday morning here in Quebec, we had a province-wide power outage that affected over 900,000 people due to a major wind storm of 100 km/h (62 mph). The power outage lasted in our case almost 48 hours.
I took this time to do some reading, clean up my office, read some more and after sunset hubby and I enjoyed eating some snacks, playing crib and a dice game called Bupkis by candlelight. We tried to make the best out of the situation and enjoy the quiet time with no distractions. Other than it being cold, we actually had a nice 2-day break.
This got me thinking, how I had no choice but to take time off and despite the conditions, I completely enjoyed it. I got a few things done, spent quality time with my husband and pets and did some reading. Not bad for 2 days with no electricity.
So let me ask you…
When was the last time you took time off from your work?
When was the last time you spent your evenings actually spending quality time doing something you love or with your family and not in front of your computer or phone, finishing up all the work you need to get completed before the morning? You tell yourself it’s just a few emails. It’s just a small project. Maybe a phone call or two. You’re tired and you’d rather be doing something else, but this has to get done!
Why You Need to Take Time Off From Work
While it might feel like you have a ton of work to do and your business will crumble if you take some time off, it’s vital that you take deliberate time off from work. According to recent studies, stroke could be an even bigger risk than a heart attack for people who are overworked! The study found that individuals who worked more than 55 hours per week had a 13% greater risk of a heart attack and 33% more likely to suffer a stroke than people who worked 35-40 hours per week.
This is just one of the many health problems that occur in overworked people. There are many other health risks that the stress and exhaustion from overworking pose on your mind and body. According to a summary report in The Economist, “…the greater the number of hours worked per year, the greater the likelihood of premature death and poor quality of life.”
How to Get More Time Off
“Take more time off work,” is much easier said than done. Your business needs you; you might be bursting with ideas, or laden with responsibility. Taking time off isn’t something that happens naturally or easily!
That being said, it’s important to make time off a priority! Here are three ways you can get more time off more frequently:
1. Take Short Breaks Throughout the Day
Just like you schedule in meetings, calls, events, and projects, you need to schedule in a few short breaks throughout your day. These don’t have to be extended periods of time, but letting yourself rest, meditate, eat, or just relax for 10 to 15 minutes every few hours throughout your day will help.
Switching your attention to something calming or enjoyable throughout the day helps your brain work differently and solve other types of problems. It helps you relax more and be more prepared to better handle your workload.
2. Take More Vacations
Generally, employees are offered a set amount of vacation days per year. Unfortunately, it’s rarely a sufficient amount of time off to be considered healthy! Less than two weeks off work for an entire year is hardly anything, and many employees don’t even use up all their vacation days! Not to mention, when you own your own business, vacation days are so much harder to take!
When was the last time you went on a vacation, be it a long weekend trip or a few weeks long? How often do you let yourself have a significant time off where you don’t bring any work with you? Increase that time as much as you can. Get into different environments. Replenish your passion and energy!
3. Take a Whole Day Off Work Every Week
It’s so tempting to pull out your phone and answer emails throughout a lazy Sunday. It’s easy to get on your computer and work through a project over the weekend. “Days off” aren’t actually days off when you’re working!
Challenge yourself to put your work away for an entire day at least once a week. Don’t get on your phone to respond to messages or use your computer to finish projects. Relax for an entire day, you can always get back to work the next day.
Remember to choose you, rest is important for both your mind and body.
Hiring a new member of a team is always a challenge and it can be an exciting part of running a business. If you are looking to hire a new team member for your business this year there are a lot of tips and tricks to take on board.
One of the most important things you can do during the recruitment process is to perform certain background checks on candidates. Background checks are a great way to check important information such as social security number (SSN trace), criminal convictions, and drugs.
Today we are going to run through some of the top reasons why you should perform some background checks on all candidates this year.
Criminal Convictions One of the most popular background checks that is performed is a criminal record check. As an employer it is important to trust the person you hire, as once they work for you they will have access to your business data as well as acting as a representative of your brand. In order to trust an employee, it is crucial that they don’t have a criminal record that could impact either you directly or your reputation if found out. Of course, some companies will give convicts a second chance to change their ways, but it is still important that you make an informed decision.
Reduce Your Liability Risk Think of your business like a child that you must protect from harm. As a ‘parent’, you would never leave someone you don’t know in charge of your child or allow them to interact with your child. You should apply the same principle to your business and perform background checks to get to know who your candidates are. Building a picture of the person you look to hire can sway your decision one way or the other and it is crucial to do this. For example, a social media check may uncover that a candidate is abusive, rude, or racist online and this makes them a huge risk to your business’ reputation.
Protect Your Employees Another important reason to consider performing background checks on your employees is to protect those who already work for you. It is your responsibility as a business owner to protect everyone who works under your roof, and this will likely include performing checks to understand what a candidate is really like.
Verify Education It is a simple fact that everyone lies a little bit on their CV. A white lie such as being able to play the piano or knowing two languages can often be overlooked, but if a candidate lies about having a degree that is relevant to the role this can be a big red flag. Ensure that you perform a background check on candidates to verify the education they have received and this will make a huge difference to your business.
Peace of Mind Honestly? The best reason to perform background checks is to give you some peace of mind. Hiring is a tough process, and it may help you to have that extra confirmation to show you that your decisions are the right ones.
Our world is filled with distractions, more than ever before with constant access to an internet overflowing with news, information, and entertainment. It’s so easy to get lost on a rabbit trail of information or to find a reason to be discouraged and unmotivated. Having the mental determination to remain focused and motivated is crucial!
Here are five tips to get yourself focused, stay motivated, and watch as your productivity and profits increase!
Boost Your Productivity and Profits With These 5 Ways to Get Focused
1. Learn From Others; Don’t Compare
Comparison is the thief of joy. When you find yourself studying how to be better at your craft, learning new ways to market yourself, or simply trying to build your brand, free yourself to learn from other people in your field but never let yourself compare your world to theirs. Don’t look at how many customers or clients they have, how much money they make, or how many likes their social posts get and compare that to what you get!Learn how they got to where they are! Learn what they do to be so accomplished. Learn how they stay motivated. Focus on being inspired by their success and not discouraged that yours might be different.
2. Don’t Assume That Money Will Always Be Motivation
Towards the beginning of your business or even while you might be financially struggling, it’s easy to think that the profits you could bring in will be motivating enough to work through anything. Unfortunately, this way of thinking quickly drags. If money is your only motivator, then it’s the only way you’ll be able to measure your productivity. If a day, week, or month goes by without you meeting your monetary goals, you’ll easily lose focus. Look at the whole picture and focus on all the things it takes to get there.
3. Get Organized!
One of the easiest ways to lose focus and motivation (and consequently see your productivity spiral) is to be disorganized. Keep your tasks organized and scheduled. Keep your calendar clear and understandable. Organize your processes so they’re as simple and fluid as possible. Good organization will help you save time, effort, and money, which will all work to help you stay focused and less stressed!
4. Set Your Own Goals; Don’t Copy Someone Else’s
This might sound like a no-brainer, but you should really consider it. Set goals that you want to achieve, not just because you heard someone else say it was important. Don’t decide where you’re going based off of what you “should” do, but rather where you want to be. If your goals are inspiring and desirable to you, then you will be so much more motivated to focus on them and work towards them!
5. Surround Yourself With Likeminded People
While you shouldn’t discard old, valuable friendships, you should make sure you have a solid community of people who believe in and support what you’re doing. They should challenge you and inspire you to do better and improve at your trade. They should help you regain focus when you lose it, just as you should help them focus when they’re distracted or stressed. Motivate each other. Grow together. Don’t settle for a lifestyle that’s keeping you distracted and unmotivated.
In business, there is an ever-shifting balance between income and expenditure. For everything that comes in, there will be supplier costs, business-related fees, premises running costs, employee costs, and so much more. The price of these items may change considerably throughout the year. Suppliers need more money, the cost of living forces wages up, and then there is the cost of fuel.
If you are in the agriculture or construction industry, then you will rely heavily upon your vehicles and machinery in your work. These will need to be running much of the time, and as such, can be expensive to fuel. But when it comes to fuel costs, you often cannot predict them. There is a vast fluctuation when it comes to fuel costs, and by the time you take an extra couple of pennies per litre and multiply that by the amount of fuel that you use in a week, you will often find that a minor price change can be quite costly when it hits your bank balance.
With this in mind, your business should look at ways of saving fuel and reducing the cost to the company.
Use Gas Oil Gas oil is often commonly known as red diesel. There is only one real difference between gas oil and regular diesel and that is that it is coloured with a red dye. Red diesel is available from companies like Fuel Box and can save your business a considerable amount of money. Red diesel is subject to a different set of tax regulations than regular diesel, making it a great deal cheaper for the end-user. It is only permitted for use in specific industries though; you are also not allowed to use gas oil on vehicles that are being used on the road either. Authorities have the power to be able to check vehicles to see if the red dye has been left in the fuel tank to ensure that this fuel has not been misused
Replace Your Fleet Your company’s vehicles will need replacing from time-to-time, and when it comes time, you should look at finding models with a greater fuel economy. With environmental issues taking the forefront in our lives, many companies are creating more efficient vehicles, making this one of the major contributing factors when it comes to deciding which model of machine or vehicle to buy. It will not only help you to reduce your carbon footprint, it will save you a considerable amount of money over the lifespan of the vehicle.
Create A Less Wasteful Working Culture The way that your employees use your machinery and vehicles will affect fuel consumption. Leaving motors running when they are not needed will mean that you are burning through more fuel and costing yourself a considerable amount more. Retraining your staff so that they are being more efficient in their use of company vehicles and machinery will mean that you can get people to start thinking about the costs and environmental impact of their actions.
The world we live in is incredibly fast paced – and as a business owner, it’s imperative that you keep up if you want to succeed. Tried and tested methods from the past will often no longer suffice, where changes in attitudes, technology and society have rendered many of them obsolete. Here’s what you need to know about bringing your business into the modern day.
Utilize modern software and technology There are all kinds of clever softwares and pieces of kit that companies can benefit from using this day and age. From incredible computers to software that can automate literally entire areas of your business, it’s something you need to be aware of as a company owner. If you’re in the dark about which changes to make, get an IT support team on board who can advise you and point you in the right direction.
Ditch the old fashioned marketing techniques Marketing has really changed over the years, as technology has improved, customer demand and expectation has changed, as well as the way that we use the internet. These days, marketing techniques need to be clever and subtle, and marketing in the wrong way will do you far more harm than good. From ‘black hat’ techniques such as keyword stuffing which will get you banned by search engines, to spamming links on social media which will annoy your customers, don’t just guess at it. If you’re not a marketing expert, employ a person or hire a company that is. You need someone that’s experienced and knows what they’re doing. Old or outdated marketing methods will be costing you in many ways- not just in money.
Improve your office Research has shown time and time again that the quality of your office can directly influence the productivity of your staff and business. You don’t need to be working out of the most expensive city view office block with floor to ceiling windows (although that’s the dream for many of us!) But you should make the most of what you have. Decorate, add plants, have the place professionally cleaned regularly, you can hire your cleaning employees to do this or utilize the services of a commercial third party cleaning company. One thing that many offices and workplaces have got on board with in recent years is the idea of collaborative working areas. Big companies like Google, Pixar and Facebook are amongst those that pride themselves on creative, collaborative workspaces for employees. Do your own research, work out what it is that customers and employees want and tailor your workspace to suit.
Have you considered how you will bring your business into the modern day, and where it could currently be falling behind?
