Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash
In the days before you start your company, there will be a lot of planning that happens. You will probably talk about where you will get your finance from, how much you can afford to spend on traditional marketing like flyers and leaflets. You’ll perhaps discuss the best tactics to grow your Facebook, and find plenty of ways and tips and tricks online to help you.
But there should be a section that you will focus on growth.
And while it is essential that you dream big and think about what your business could be, you should also make space to write this down - and talk practically. Growth should be part and parcel of your business plan.
Many small businesses actually reach a point where they need to expand, hire people, and look for better technology, without even noticing. There isn’t always a big flag that lets you know that you have reached the point where you need to look for better broadband like lingo.com, to think about expanding your CRM software, or begin hiring a range of freelancers.
When that point does arise, you need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to tackle it. As your business changes, so will your clients. You will be at bigger pitches for more prominent clients. And you’re going to need more people to manage these projects.
But how do you know that your business is ready for these more important things, and how do you manage them?
Some businesses push hard for growth, and others wait for it to happen organically. What is important is that it's not always about how much you spend to make these changes occur, it often comes down to the time put in effort instead.
People
One of the most significant and most important changes you will have is hiring new people. If your small team has been working closely together for years, bringing a new person will change the team dynamics. And sometimes they are not the right person for the job, or they don’t fit with the culture. As not all businesses are office-based, the whole team can be managed and arranged remotely. And if this is the case for your business, then you do, you have some advantages if not all of the group seem to have personalities that work well together.
If you intend to have people in your office, then you will need to look at the culture within the team and make hires based on personality and skills.
Not only that, but you should be prepared to make sure that everybody has everything they need. From desks and phone lines to access to drinking water and somewhere to eat.
Competition
Unless you are a market leader or you have created a whole new market, or a new product, most industries will have some kind of competition. And as you grow and expand, your competition will change. Your competitors will then come with more bite. They will be more fierce with their marketing tactics, put more money into their campaigns, and the chances are they are big enough to have whole teams on one project, and multiple projects at a time.
But you can spend time researching your competitors. This gives you an advantage because you understand them and how they work. Similar Web can offer you a range of statistics about your competitors, you can then use to make the right decisions for your business. It’s not enough to know that you have competition, you need to understand how they work, and if you are pitching for the same clients and they seem to be ahead on sales or are reaching a wider audience, you can find out why.
Technology
When your business grows, your numbers can often push you out of using the technology that you currently have. Smaller email management software is usually only suited for 1000 or less individual emails, and you’ll need to size up when you get more signups. Look at platforms that can help you and your team communicate quickly and effectively, for example, Dynamics 365. Look at things like social media management, you have access to real-time data, as well as past data, and you can make decisions on future campaigns based on the success and engagement of your previous ones. Technology and tools are essential when it comes to building and growing your business. So you need to be aware of your options before you need to upgrade your software so that you do not make a rash decision.
Email List
Almost all of the communication you’re going to have with your customers is going to be online. Unless you are a traditional brick-and-mortar store. And even then, your online presence needs to be worked on. Your email list is going to be the most direct option for reaching out to your customers. That is, of course, aside from face-to-face.
You can enhance your email marketing strategy for your small business with the likes of platforms such as www.simplelists.com. This can help market your business cost-effectively and to the intended target audience, by building relationships with customers. Streamlining email marketing campaigns is also a great benefit of using a mailing list platform, as this can be based on previous engagements, purchases and other interests.
You can use your historical data, past progress, and discuss the strategy you used to grow your email list. Look closely at which email has got a response and that did not. Use the one that had the most positive response as a template for your next email marketing campaign. It is also essential to run to different variations of that template with a separate copy and styling.
Use the information you have about your customers and the customers of your competitors to create A/B testing.
The lead magnets that you use will need to be scrutinized and potentially strengthened. This means it will also need to be tested. Pop-ups are more enticing, or do you think that simple subscribe box in the corner of your website going to do the trick? Many small businesses make the terrible mistake of a gentle approach. And offers a single ‘subscribe to the email’ option on the website. But you actually need to be more dynamic and push your email list if you’re going to have an email list worth talking about.
Pop-ups, when visitors are displaying leave behavior on your website, an enticing discount for signing up like 10% off often does the trick. Have your newsletter and your email list as something that people need to be on for exclusive, for access, for free things, because they need it.
If up until now with your newsletters have been random, rather than fully curated campaigns-that needs to change. You’re going to have to try a better approach. Delivering valuable content to your email list, tailored to where they signed up, and past purchases will keep people coming back. Combine a sales funnel with your email list to maximize your opportunities for sales.
These areas take effort, time, and knowledge. We don’t all get into business understanding how to create a successful sales funnel. But we are in business because we have a passion for what we do. Planning and learning for growth are essentials. This growth over time will be what takes a freelancer from the kitchen table, to a small business with a team, and a small business eventually to a global corporation. The growth of the company comes with new challenges, both personal and for your business. There are often steep learning curves, crashes, and things you can’t foresee. But the ultimate goal is to deliver value to your customers, continuously working on the user experience, working on innovative products, and using the information and knowledge that you already have to move forward.