How to Grow Your Small Business

If you own a small business, it's likely that you are familiar with the frustration of struggling to grow to that next level. Establishing your brand and an operating model that works are big hurdles for a young small business. Once these are achieved and the business is established, however, it can be difficult to know where to look to continue to grow. 

Many small businesses see rapid growth in the beginning, but then hit a plateau for many years. Others do a good job of continuing to tweak their model to achieve growth year after year. The latter group tends to have some common approaches and methods. 

They invest in their business 

Successful entrepreneurs know when to spend money and are not afraid to do it. If you continue to operate like a $5M company, you will continue to be one. To get to that next level, strategic investments in the company need to be made to support a growing business. These mainly come in the form of upgrading property and equipment, technology, or even people. 

They cut costs by increasing efficiency and eliminating waste

Successful entrepreneurs not only know when to spend money, they know when not to. Keeping margins high and being able to price your product competitively is a key to continued growth. Wasteful spending and inefficient processes keep costs high and stagnate the business. Focusing on improving vital business processes to allow them to scale while reviewing and holding departments to their budgets are essential for growth. 

They listen to their customers

There is no better way to keep up with market trends than to listen and adapt to the needs of your customers. Businesses that design a good product but fail to evolve with the market will soon find the demand for their products disappearing. Getting regular and honest feedback from your customers will allow you to grow with them and continue to keep them satisfied. 

Feel free to reach out if you have specific questions with regards to this blog.