How to Grow Your Small Business in 2020

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants were once small businesses.  A couple of them like Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy.  As a small business owner, you’re probably considering how to get the most out of your business.   Here’s the thing.  Growing your small business is hard, really hard.  But if you are up for the challenge, here are some tips to get you started 

 

Don’t Do Everything Yourself

 

Yes, the business is your idea, your brainchild, your baby, and nobody can do it like you. The thing is, if you don’t share your ideas with others, you will limit the rate at which you’d experience change and growth.  It stunts your creativity, and it’s the fastest way to get burnt out.  You should hire people who can get things done.  If you’re on a budget, look for skilled independent contractors.  A great site to find help is UPWORK.com, you can build a team of professionals without committing to a full-time salary. 

 

Get Good Software

While growing your business, you have to do a lot of work to get organized. To simplify the process and get tasks done faster, invest in business management software. Aside from the simplicity business management software brings to the table, it automates the customer acquisition process and helps you convert new customers quickly.  May software platforms have free trials, so you can test them before you subscribe.  

 

That’s not all…Business Management software provides a reliable way to help you manage customer relationships, projects, and employees.  Let’s face it, there’s pretty much software developed for any task in the business world. However, to get more work in no time, you’d need an all-in-one software to handle all your business processes — and that’s where Zeleaux comes into play.

 

Zeleaux is a business management tool designed to handle a plethora of activities. It helps you manage your projects, staff, and customers all in one tool.  The built-in quoting tool is designed to help you create professional-looking quotes for your customers, and the project management tool helps you be on top of all projects at the same time.  

 

Have a Defined Process

Before growing your business, you’ve got to understand processes, structures — and how to build them. Business processes help you to prioritize your business goals and pinpoint tasks that are important for the overall growth of your business. Also, it helps eliminate chaos, set things in order, and streamline your business operational system.

 

 

Hire Good Employees

Before diving into how to hire the right employees, you’ve got to understand that excellent employees come to companies with the right culture.  Therefore, to attract the best people, you’ve got to build the culture everyone would love.

 

Anyone searching for a rewarding career is always on the lookout for a company they can grow with.  To hire the best employees, you’ve got to do more than just rely on their resume.  Job interviews are not just avenues for evaluating talents, resume, and work experience, it’s the ideal place to ask discovery questions to see if the candidate will be an ideal fit with your company goals.  Here is a great article that lists the top 10 job interview questions you should ask when interviewing a potential employee.

 

One more thing… Find out how they work under pressure. Growing a small business comes with demanding customers, meeting deadlines, and working under intense pressure. Can the employee match up? Or are they merely after a good paycheck?  Don’t rush the hiring process. If you rush the process, you may end up with the wrong people.

 

Get Feedback

 

Every business needs customers, so their feedback is a crucial part of growing your small business.   Feedback helps you know what your customers truly want and value.   This way, you get to steer your business in the right direction. Ask customers for feedback. Let them answer surveys and leave reviews at the end of the day.

 

Excellent customer reviews mean you’re doing something right. It means your chances of getting repeat business is pretty high. Without new customers, your business won’t grow — and your profit would pretty much be the same. 

 

To get new customers, you’ve got to do a thorough market analysis.  A proper market analysis not only helps you to discover new customers, but it also helps you to know more about them.  You get to discover who they are, where they live, and how they spend their time.  Simply put, a market analysis gives you the blueprint of the customer — you get to know all you need to know about them.

 

Also, seek referrals.  Providing excellent services is good, but it doesn’t mean that your customers are passing the word around. 

To get them to broadcast your business to their networks, just ask for referrals, let them know you want your business to grow.  If they love what you’ve done for them, why wouldn’t they share it with their network and community?   After every job, ask the customer if they know someone who would need your product/service.  It’s okay if they turn you down, but you’ve got to take the initiative and ask.

 

Conclusion — Time to Grow Your Small Business

 

 

Growing a small business is not a walk in the park, but it is so rewarding!  Just take it one step at a time, and remember to never give up on yourself.  It will NOT happen overnight, success WILL be far away, but you will never get there unless you take the steps day by day.   How would you grow your business in 2020?