Understand the marketplace

Researching your competitors is one of the most important first steps in launching your business. Ask yourself who your competitors are, what they’re doing (that you’re not doing) that works for them, and how you can differentiate your business from theirs. The answers to these questions will help you form a more productive business strategy, defining the areas of your business that require more attention to flourish.

You need concrete data on your ideal customers, the existing competition, expected growth and demand, market trends, and more. These types of insights are invaluable and help you make informed business decisions and goals.

You’ll also need to be clear on the four Ps: product, price, promotion, and place. They can guide the creation of your market research, marketing plan, and customer personas, and serve as a fantastic starting point if you’re not sure where to begin.

INCREASE CUSTOMER RETENTION

Keep your current customers coming back with engaging content via email and on your company’s social media channels. It’s 30 percent cheaper to keep a new customer than to get a new one. Increasing customer retention rates by five percent can increase profits by 25 to 95 percent.

So not only is it cheaper to keep your current customers, if you nurture the relationship with them, you can increase sales and profits by up to 95 percent—and you can also use current customers to attract new customers via referral programs. People are four times more likely to buy a product if a friend recommended it. Keeping your current customers happy is the easiest and fastest way to drive growth and increase profitability.

BE ADAPTABLE

One trait that many successful startups have in common is the ability to switch directions quickly in response to changes in the market. An agile approach to development, both in your product and your company, will help you grow more quickly.

By allowing yourself to adapt and change quickly, you’re able to test different approaches to business and find out what works best. It allows you to fail, pick yourself back up and keep going. Both the leaders and employees within an organization must adapt to stay competitive and hopefully outdo other companies in terms of success and profitability.

BUILD PARTNERSHIPS

Sometimes joining forces with another business is the most viable method of growing your small business. You might choose to do this through mergers, acquisitions or partnerships with other businesses. Provided that the arrangement brings significant benefits to all parties, it can be a true win-win situation that boosts resources in a big way.

Partnerships tend to suit sole traders who can share clients and collaborate to complete complex projects. For example, carpenters, electricians and builders can help each other to gain traction in the construction industry.

By joining up with a complimentary, non-competitive business you can instantly gain access to new customer bases and markets. If going down this route, just be careful to have comprehensive legal contracts in place in order to protect your business in the event of unforeseen issues.

USE ALTERNATIVE CHANNELS

Small businesses with quality products usually benefit from using alternative channels. Five commonly used channels are Google Ads (pay-per-click/cost-per-click advertising), Facebook, email marketing and remarketing. Utilizing alternative channels is one of the best methods of growth in business. Many small businesses already use more than one online platform for marketing, but sometimes switching platforms achieves better results.

54% of small businesses use email and 48% use social media; it might be surprising to know that less than two-thirds (equating to 64%) of small businesses have their own website. For exclusively offline businesses, it may be time to launch a website with an online product store to gain national or international reach. Trends in recent years show that having both an offline and online presence leads to optimum growth, so it is worth considering.

MAKE USE OF AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES

Technology can aid your business in many ways. It can streamline many of your usual tasks, from managing your accounts to improving your sales processes.

There is technology available to aid your productivity in the day, increasing business efficiency so you can get through most of your to-do list at a faster rate than you would if you were still reliant on manual processes. There are all kinds of software tools available to you, from those that can measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategies, to apps that can help you with your brand design, so you can utilize these tools to both find and attract potential customers to your side.

Technology should never take over human interaction entirely – most customers still prefer the personal touch – but you can use tech to your advantage. From CRM systems to online chatbots, you can improve the way you communicate with your customers, speeding up processes that can benefit both you and your customers.