The sole purpose of setting up a business, is to get profit and improve your life. As a small business owner, you should know the basics of running a business. If you’re marketing online (firmly recommended), then you should know what your target prospects want.
Business is all about meeting consumer’s need. Looking for problems around you and filling them. Smart entrepreneurs are serious about growing their small business – it’s not in the size of your staffs, your office or the files you carry around, but how much targeted prospects you’re able to meet their needs on a continual basis.
Will your business survive the test of time, how do you intend to expand your horizon and improve your customer-base? These are some of the questions that you would get insights in, as we look at the 5 smart ways to grow your small business.
1. Determine Your Present Level
This is the first approach to enhancing your business. You should determine your present level. How much influence has your business made, what’s the total monthly traffic you get to your blog/site, with little or no financial investment.
All these helps you to monitor and track your marketing campaigns. It’s your surest bet to overcoming any perceived challenges that may come your way in the nearest future.
Therefore, determine your present level and work on improving it. Also, has your mindset as a business owner changed? Until you change your thoughts about growing a business, and what it means to you, nothing will happen from the outside.
Positive change begins from within, and flows to the outside. Take note!
2. Write Down Your Income Goals
Making money from your small business begins with a goal. A goal helps to sharpen your thoughts, vision and business sense. A business that lacks a clearly defined goals, written on paper is bound to fail. You may have good aspirations; how you would connect with the world, but it’s only a day-dream.
Wishes are mere imaginations until you write them down.
Set your goals, make them sticky, realistic and attach a deadline to it. You should be able to explain your goals to a 2-year old, without much ado. If you can do that, then your business is set on the right path.
3. Invest Your Time Wisely
Most of the things we complain about in business, is due to the fact that we waste time. Just like Dollars and Pounds Sterling are the currencies of United States and United Kingdom respectively, time also is currency of the kingdom of earth.
If you utilize the time allotted to you efficiently, making more money and touching lives around positively, is more than possible. Instead of wasting most of your time surfing the web and getting engrossed with several TV shows, spend that precious time writing an article. A single advertising campaign can set the mark for a turnaround in your small business.
Remember, you can eliminate the “small” prefix attached to business and make it big. It all depends on you and how you spend that 24 hours given by mother nature.
4. Focus On Building A System
A system is quite different from a business. As a small business owner, you’re not limited in any way. You can expand and attract high paying clients, and nothing is stopping you. But, building a business doesn’t end in renting an office apartment, employing staffs and paying salaries, you’ve got to build a “system.”
A system is an advanced form of business entity that stays, even when the business owner is out in the moon, on holidays or away. Will your business survive without you?
If not, then you should focus in building a business-system. It all boils down to solving more problems and increasing your customer-base. The more people you’re able to solve their problems, enhance and add values to their lives, the more dependent they are to you.
So, get started today with the mindset of a creative entrepreneur – businesses don’t survive the test of time, but system does.
5. Redefine Your Customer Service
Every business whether small or big has a core role to play, in the area of customer service. When your customers are satisfied, it means you could easily write your own paycheck. In fact, to grow your small business and get if off from the ground, you need to redefine how much care you deliver to your customers.
But you must understand the kind of business you do, this way you will be able to study the attitude and psychology of your customers and deliver. This was the same tactics I used when building my recent blog that features sittercity coupons and 6pm discounts. I understand how online shoppers behave and the values they attach to free coupons and discount deals.
Make customers happy. When you make a promise, deliver on it and go the extra mile, to over-deliver. Whatever it takes to make them happy and appreciate you, do it and your business would evolve ultimately.
It’s time to take that small business to a system, by focusing your efforts and marketing endeavors on the core aspects of your business. If you take action today, I’m sure you’ll experience a top-notch success.
Author Bio: Michael Chibuzor is a Freelance Writer and often writes about discount deals at coupon blogs that share sittercity coupon codeĀ and 6pm discounts. He is currently contributing to a coupon site that offers a free sittercity free trial and 6pm promotion codes.