Small business holders everywhere will know that owning and running a business isn’t easy. If you’re lucky enough to be able to pay employees, then there’s an outside chance you might have a team of managers to attend to the day-to-day running of your business, but if you’re doing it all yourself then you know what kind of a workload that entails. Your business might be a labour of love, but there are times when the “labour” aspect outweighs the “love” aspect.
Since you’re so busy running your business, there’s a chance you’re neglecting opportunities for real, genuine business growth. No business owner should be happy to stagnate; instead, business owners should be chasing chances to supercharge their enterprise and take their venture to the next level. Here are 6 of our top tips to help you elevate your business endeavours to new heights.
Motivate your employees – financially and otherwise
If your business has employees, then they are unequivocally the key to its success. You can’t run a profitable business operation without motivated, committed employees who know why they’re here and what they want. As such, you should make sure to keep them motivated at all times. A payrise is a pretty solid and time-tested way to make employees feel like they’re wanted, especially at difficult times for the company. If you need a quick cash injection to make this happen, don’t be afraid to seek out a loan from a trustworthy lender – if you’re in a tough spot, you can use this cash injection to drag you out and pay the loan back when you’re seeing better days.
Hold regular meetings
Your workforce needs – and deserves – to be regularly updated on the position the company is in, its performance and how that affects them. If you keep your employees in the dark, either intentionally or unintentionally, that will severely affect their performance. Put yourself in their position. Would you want a manager or CEO who kept everything to themselves? If the company isn’t performing too well, bring your employees in because they might have suggestions for how to help. If the company is doing great, then talk to your employees and discuss what they’ve done to get this far. Keeping up a constant conversation with your workforce is a great way to supercharge your business.
Know your core demographic (and keep up with them)
If you’re a small business owner, you’ve obviously already done the requisite demographic research and asked the obvious questions (who is my core demographic, how can I appeal to them, et cetera). If you feel like your business is stalling, it might be because you’ve lost touch with your core demographic and your company’s values no longer reflect or complement theirs. Talk to your customers and find out who they are, what they want and how you can help them get it on a regular basis. Don’t allow yourself a victory lap – always be thinking about how your business can serve its customers, whoever they may be.
Market yourself in innovative ways
If nobody knows your business is selling, then nobody will come to you. You need to market your business regularly; the best small business owners already know this and are engaged in constant marketing campaigns. Conventional marketing will only get you so far, though. Instead, why not try thinking outside the box? If you’re running an e-commerce business and you’re reaching out to Instagram influencers, think about who they are and what they’re about, and tailor a bespoke package of your products to appeal to them. Don’t just send people “stuff” – think carefully about what you want your marketing pushes to say, select the right outlets and tailor your content very carefully to those outlets.
…but don’t overdo it
You should be reasonably aggressive in your marketing push, but the last thing you want is to gain a reputation as a pushy, in-your-face business. One of the most crucial skills you need to learn as a business owner is when to back off and when to pursue; if you’re sending out an email circular with a survey asking your customers what they think about you, then make sure it’s a good while before you send your next one or people will think you’re pestering them. The most important thing about marketing is balance, and understanding when you’re not imposing on your customers is crucial to success.
These are just 5 tips you can use for supercharging your business. In the end, you know your company better than anyone else, and so there may be many things you can do individually in order to improve performance. Still, these tips are useful for every business and can be adapted to fit your particular model. Did we miss any? Let us know!
