By Angie O’Shannessy
What was your vision when you first wanted to become a business owner? Did you just want to build a business that would fund your dream lifestyle? Maybe your desire was to have a company that would one day provide for a great retirement. Or perhaps you wanted to start a company, sell it for billions, and spend your time buying islands like Richard Brandson.
No matter what you saw yourself doing, you’ll never get there unless you grow your business. Successful business owners understand that starting a business takes hard work and commitment. Now that you have your business up and running, how can we take it to the next level?
Growing a business can be challenging and it’s filled with ups and downs. But ultimately, it’s the only way to stay in business. Of all of the things you can do to grow your business, There are five powerful actions that you can take immediately that will propel you and your business to the next level.
A growing business consumes two things; time and money. When the growth of your business begins, its best to be prepared to feed your business what it needs to grow.
Let’s say today your blog gets a spike in traffic that brings an extra 10,000 visits a day. Are you ready for the floods of emails, comments and offers that will come in? If you have an offline business, be prepared to have a buffer of cash for hiring, upgrades and support. It’s better to have that cash on hand instead of trying to raise the capital in the middle of a boom.
Not being prepared for the growth also means you will be losing out on customers and leads. This sort of ill preparation can cost a lot more than a few sales. Bad experiences can cost your reputation.
Your business or blog is not going to grow unless people see it and are reminded of it. Make sure that your brand is all over the digital market space. One of the reasons we can recognise the Coca-Cola symbol is because we’ve seen it thousands of times. If you want to gain similar brand recognition, you have to make sure that people know that your business exists.
Whenever I meet entrepreneurs that ask me how they can increase their online presence, I usually ask them the same question, “what are you doing now”? I usually get the same answer.
“Well, I have a Twitter and Facebook account.”
Just “having” those profiles doesn’t do much for your brand. You have to be actively participating to be effective. Seek the opinions and wants of your readers, customers, and clients. Make sure that the world knows who you are and what you do and remind them as much as you can with out being annoying.
In business, your ego is your enemy. There is a difference between having confidence and having a big ego. Confidence gives you the courage to take risks. Your ego may stop you from getting help when you need it. It may also cause you to be closed off to good ideas because you’re determined to do things your way.
As entrepreneurs, we like being in control. Sometimes that is not a good thing. As leaders we have to know what we can and can’t do. If there is someone better than us for the job, and it will help grow the business, we have to step back and let them do it. This will also eliminate stress and make life a bit more normal.
That includes allowing mentors, consultants, customers, and even our competition the freedom to evaluate our business objectively. Once we let go of our ego, new doors and opportunities will present themselves that will help our business grow at a much faster rate.
That also means trusting the people who work for the company. It’s important to trust your employee’s ability to do the job they were hired to do. Give them the freedom to use their skills and talents to make your business better.
Just make sure they know the rules, so many times people tell me oh that employee of mine was great when she started but now is driving me crazy she consistently makes mistakes. If you can relate to this just think how they were inducted into your business. This can make or break all the hard work that you have done so far.
An entrepreneur’s ego is one biggest dangers a business can have. Let go of yours and you will see how much easier it will be to manage the business.
Before I wrote this post, I asked a few different successful business owners I know how they were able to make their businesses grow. All of them touched on creating a need or demand for their product or service in the market place.
The key is providing so much value, that the consumer feels as though they need your product or service. The same is true for a high quality blog. If you offer outstanding content, your readers will feel moved to visit the site often and even share it with their friends and contacts. From there, they will be more likely to buy your e-book or a product that you recommend. This is how you build trust with your target market. Good content will give you more customers.
In order for you to sell your product or service there must be a demand for it. The way you present the business will help create that demand.
Partnering up with similar businesses can be a powerful move. The opportunity for growth can be tremendous if the right alliance is formed. If you form an alliance that is mutually beneficial for both parties, you increase your growth potential extremely quickly.
By aligning yourself with a similar business, you now are exposed to their customers.
You also gain credibility by having a repeatable partner endorsing your blog, product, or service.
With online businesses it is much easier to form alliances. An alliance can be formed by trading guest posts, links, and other promotion strategies. It’s also easier for internet entrepreneurs with blogs because blogging is about connecting and community.
If you want to grow your business, leverage your relationships with people and other businesses. Take these five actions and apply them to your business strategies and see the dramatic change that happens.
Make this day a Great One!
