No one starts a small business to fail, whether it’s for flexibility, freedom, or to pursue their passions. Grow small businesses into profitable businesses is the dream of every business owner. in this blog we share our experience about How to Grow Your Small Business and Make it Successful.
It is excellent to aim for success, but not everyone is successful. What does it mean for a small business to fail, and what can you do to protect yourself?
Taking your small business to the next level starts with knowing what it takes to grow your social media presence. This will enable you to get more customers, and take your business to the next level.
Small businesses vs Big businesses – What’s the Difference?
Defining big and small businesses is the first step. Compared to each other, they seem similar in size. Your business can also be judged by other indicators.
An overview of management
Due to the number of employees, big businesses have a set management structure and hierarchy. Boards of directors and CEOs are the most powerful decision makers.
Some small businesses are run by the owner alone, others by a few other people. Sometimes that doesn’t happen. It’s not uncommon to find small businesses with just one employee.
Target audience
The target audience of small businesses and big businesses often overlaps, however, due to resource abundance, big businesses will be able to target audiences in multiple markets.
The target audience of some small businesses is typically local since they are located in specific regions. Their target audience can be exponentially expanded if they invest in their online presence.
Money sources
Government grants and crowdfunding are often the most effective ways for small businesses to raise capital from low-risk sources.
Banks and other large financial institutions provide loans to big businesses. Their assets can also be used as collateral when needed. They also issue equity capital, sell stocks and bonds.
What Percentage of Businesses Fail?
New businesses close more than half during their first year, according to the saying. According to BLS data, this claim is not supported.
In the first two years of business operations, less than 20% of businesses close. Nearly half stop operating within five years, and more than half within ten. 25 percent of businesses reach 15 years after launch. Since the 90s, statistics have remained stable.
It’s clear that you can make a lot of mistakes that could negatively impact your business. Keep these in mind:
Not Conducting Market Investigation
Passions and hobbies inspire many businesses. Breaking into a saturated market will be difficult if your passion is already popular.
Unmet needs should be the goal of your product. Products/services that meet a need are easier to sell than products that solve problems people don’t know exist. Ensure your small business is offering a solution to a problem people need solved by conducting adequate market research.
Straying from a Developed Business Plan
Successful businesses have realistic business plans. You increase your chances of failing if you stop following the plan.
Make sure you fix anything that needs fixing in your plan or develop a new one instead of making decisions without guidance based on observation.
Market analysis, company description, services or products you’re selling, sales and marketing plan, and financial projections are all necessary in every business plan.
Poor marketing, Internet Presence, and Location
Foot traffic is affected by poor location, which can cause problems for businesses that sell in-store.
Poor internet presence can hurt your business just as badly as a less-than-ideal storefront location. It’s important that your small business website is easily found online, even if you depend on foot traffic. In that case, people may lose confidence in you and stop doing business with you.
Marketing plans come in handy here. You can lose branding, exposure, and connections with your target audience with poor marketing. In order to be found in multiple ways, you need an advertising plan and an SEO strategy. Sales and business operations could suffer, negatively affecting revenue and forcing you out.
Sudden scale-ups
A sudden expansion of a business without proper research, planning, and strategy development can lead to failure. This, in turn affects the entire business.
Expanding your business should be treated as if it were a new business and approached in the same way you did when you started. Don’t scale up too quickly and ignore taking the right steps to ensure every new location, product line, or employee is set up for success. Until you’re ready for a bigger commitment, run a smaller operation.
Also Read: technological factors that hits business growth
How to Grow Your Small Business and Take it to the Next Level
Business failure is not something you want. Your job is already great if you stay away from the points listed above. In order for your business to grow and prosper, you must be proactive.
Boost sales
A small business needs to continually attract new customers. Maintaining a healthy revenue flow will ensure smooth operations. Here are some ideas:
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- Get referrals from existing customers. Don’t wait for customers to refer you without any request from you – you’ll probably be waiting for a long time. After successful transactions, create a referral system and ask customers for referrals.
- Participate in industry-relevant networking events. For best results, share what you do with other attendees. Getting new customers and identifying industry partnerships are both benefits.
- Offer discounts and incentives to new customers. Create introductory or trial offers, track people who take them, and target them with marketing messages.
- You can easily re-engage dormant customers by using a CRM that organizes your contact list regularly. To win back their business, offer a limited-time offer or discount.
- Identify complementary companies that aren’t your direct competitors. Thus, you can market your products to a new audience while they do the same.
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Boost market share
Your business or product’s market share is how much of it it controls. In order to run a business for a long time, you need a high score. Getting started:
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- Brand your business better. Brand voice, vision, and messaging should all be reflected. Make an impression on your target audience by combining all this in one design and presenting it repeatedly.
- Be innovative and develop your products to meet the realities of today. You become irrelevant when you’re complacent. Continually improving your product or listening to market needs will make it indispensable.
- Make sure your pricing is competitive. Consider offering discounts and bonuses where the competition cannot (without affecting your bottom line) and use them as a swaying tool.
- Give current customers a feeling of value. Consider their suggestions and engage them. Referrals and repeat business will expand your audience.
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Social Media Growth
Social media is used by everyone. This can create a sense of community and encourage loyalty among your target audience.
Drive engagement and visibility with social media for your small business. Follow these social media tips for small businesses:
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- Identify your business goals and develop a social media plan.
- Find your audience on social media and know where to find them.
- Your official pages should be created on any social media platform that aligns with your business. Your business doesn’t need to be on all platforms, just those where your audience is active and where it makes sense.
- To boost engagement, observe trends and take advantage of them.
- Sell and showcase your products using social commerce.
- Engage your audience in new ways by using different content formats.
- Instead of churning out content to fill your feed, page, or timeline, produce valuable, helpful content.
- Respond to your audience’s interactions.
- Make repetitive tasks easier to manage with the right tools and automation.
- Metrics that tie to business goals are used to track, analyze, and measure.
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Increase customer retention
It is much cheaper to keep a customer than to acquire another. Keeping existing customers is just as important as gaining new ones (and we recommend doing both).
You need new customers to fill your pipeline, increase sales, and grow, but you must also retain current customers for repeat business and stable revenues.
Improve customer retention with:
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- Adopt a CRM for your business. Using the right CRM for your small business will give you insights into who your customers are and how to best serve them.
- Develop a loyalty program to reward and retain existing customers.
- Enhancing customer support. It may be time to adjust your customer service process (or hire new customer service reps) if you’re not receiving adequate scores from customers.
- Engage your audience on social media. You demonstrate your accessibility to them by having multiple ways for them to contact you.
- Existing customers can be upsold. They will have more options based on their growing needs.
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Improve Your Products or Services
Your customer experience improves with better products and services. If you improve your products or services, you may be able to attract new clients and increase sales. Some ways you can improve your product include:
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- Ensure your product works correctly by testing it regularly. Make adjustments when necessary.
- Your best-selling item can be made more flexible with new uses.
- Improve your feedback score by setting a customer service goal.
- Determine if your product can fulfill a new need in your market. Include complementary products in your offering. Ultimately, this can improve your bottom line by increasing upselling opportunities.
- Learn about the product lifecycle to diversify. Create a new product or service that addresses a need or pain point.
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Your business has growth opportunities. Making growth a reality requires the right pieces. You can join the top 25% of businesses that survive into their 15th year if you implement one or more of the above strategies. This will enable you to avoid the mistakes common to failed businesses.