Business owners can feel stuck from time to time. You may feel stuck if your sales could be more active, you need help finding enough employees to staff the business, or you need ideas. You may need to hire fresh eyes to find new ways to grow and re-energize your business.
Promoting your local business is more than just print advertising and direct mail. You will also need to focus on establishing an online presence through social media platforms, SEO strategies, and advertising. You must pay attention to the basics, such as getting involved in your community through events, sponsorships, and volunteer efforts.
Here are the seven SBDC experts who share their strategies with any business looking to grow.
1. More ways to reach customers
Consider setting up a website if you’re a retailer without an online presence. This is another way to increase sales. Consider an email campaign once you’ve collected enough emails from your customers to keep your message front and center. Remember social media.
Consider a direct-mail campaign to reach potential customers if you are an online business. Include a catalog of your best sellers. You can determine the best way to spend your marketing budget based on how effective each channel was in reaching your goals after testing your multichannel strategy.
– Maria Tsekova, the owner of copy-paste-emails.com
2. Local search engine optimization is a great way to start.
If you want your website to rank in relevant search results, you must implement SEO. You can achieve high rankings by adding keywords and optimizing content and images.
Start SEO today:
- Use our free website grader to identify areas of improvement.
- Use this local checklist to optimize your local SEO.
- Optimize SEO to generate leads.
– Graham Grieve, the Director of A1 SEO Newcastle
3. You'll find employees eager to get a second shot.
We hear a lot about businesses that want to grow but need more workers. Consider “justice-involved” individuals who have often received training or certifications while incarcerated. These individuals are looking for entry-level jobs, are eager to work and may be motivated to “show up” and “deliver” because of reporting to probation/parole officials. Businesses may receive tax credits and assistance programs for these new employees.
– Luke, the owner of Coffee Pursuits
4. Time management: 60/20/20
Instead of using 100% of your time to complete tasks by the “Whack-a-Mole” technique, I recommend a more strategic approach to managing time. Use 60% of your available time to focus on the tasks that add real value to your company or are impossible for others to complete. Divide the remaining 40% of your day into two categories. 20% should be spent on planning and 20% on strategy. Planning involves focusing on resources and schedules to run the business. Strategizing evaluates ways to improve business performance, customer experience, or profit model.
– Genevieve Barclay-White, the owner of CareWise Senior Placement
5. Take a look at your numbers
Accounting software is essential for any business. What else can you measure once you have mastered the basics? Understanding your inventory turn and diving into your cash flow is key. It’s time to measure your business.
– Jon Tennant, the CEO of Pest Control London, Ontario
6. Strengthen your cybersecurity
Businesses must prepare and improve their cyberinfrastructure to be prepared for the next attack and allow their company to benefit from the advantages of a strong security posture. Small business owners are bombarded with messages highlighting the threat of malicious software and cybercriminals to their digital data.
Businesses must now challenge themselves to strengthen their information security infrastructure. They need to position and strengthen their business so that they are ready to meet the demands of larger corporations and government agencies. Information security is not just a way to protect against threats but also an investment in the digital economy.
– Trevor Eason CEO and Tech Writer at SamsungTechwin.com San Mateo, CA
7. Strategic acquisitions
You can grow your business by controlling costs and maximizing profits. You can control your costs by acquiring small businesses. This will also allow you to gain clients and customers from these ancillary companies.
– Dr. Serkan Aygın, owner of Hair Transplant Turkey
