Know how you can grow
There are three key strategies to growing your business and they should be approached in the following order:
1. Sell more to your existing clients to increase their net worth:
- introduce them to new products and services
- increase their frequency of purchase
2. Reduce the number of clients who leave (attrition)
3. Win more clients
So, if you are looking to grow your business, strategically think about how you are actually going to achieve this. The reason to put your existing customers first is that it has been proven to cost approximately four times less to “farm” your existing customers than to “fish” for new ones.
Plan for success
Without a plan in place, you will find that your business runs you rather than the other way around!
Have a clear vision, set goals and SMART (specific, measurable, action-orientated, relevant and time-based) objectives to help you reach those goals.
Consistently measure progress against objectives
Being in control of your business and knowing exactly where you are at is key component to success.
If you do steer off track, you can rectify the situation rather than ignore it and let it snow ball out of control.
Keep an eye on your cash-flow
Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity and cash-flow is king.
Many businesses don’t survive because they’re too busy chasing more turnover and neglect effectively managing their costs and cash-flow.
Invest in your team
Investing in your employees not only saves you the cost of replacing them because they don’t stick around but you will also find that happier employees work harder and serve your clients better meaning more success and more profits for your business.
Delegate
You cannot succeed on your own and you cannot do everything yourself.
Don’t fall into the trap of ‘busy fool syndrome’; ensure that your talents and those of your employees/partners/suppliers are being utilised effectively in order to achieve the business goals.
Network
Networking is about forging meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships and not just about trying to ‘sell’.
Effective networking isn’t about going to an event and mindlessly handing out your business card; think more along the lines of synergistic relationships with other businesses, working partnerships etc
Have a business mentor
Running a business is stressful and you cannot be expected to have all of the answers all of the time.
A good mentor should act as a source of expertise, experience and support. Above all they should provide you with a fresh perspective.
If you would like to talk through how Blue Horizons Marketing can help you grow your business then get in touch at zoe@bluehorizonsmarketing.co.uk or call 01242 236600
