Blog

You’ll want to improve sales and revenue no matter what kind of small business you have. That is why so many individuals want to know how to expand a small business.

For small business owners, there is no straightforward one-size-fits-all growth approach. However, there are a few important methods you may employ to give your company the best chance of success.

How to Grow Your Small Business in 10 Easy Steps

It might be challenging to scale your small business successfully and efficiently. It necessitates a strategic strategy and concerted effort from numerous departments inside your firm, including:

Sales 

Marketing

Legal

Finance 

You may find yourself wearing multiple hats before you can acquire experienced personnel because you’re still a startup. Although it will take time and effort to establish your small business, there are ten tactics you can apply to help it expand faster.

1. Do your homework

You should conduct market research while considering how to expand your small firm. This allows you to better understand not just your current clients, but also potential customers. It’s critical to obtain knowledge of your target market and understand their wants. That way, you’ll be able to see how your company can adapt and grow to satisfy those needs.

Don’t forget to look into your competitors as well. Knowing their strengths and shortcomings might help you make better decisions about how to scale your small business.

2. Construct a Sales Funnel

Your sales funnel can assist you in taking your company to the next level. Consider a sales funnel to be the customer’s journey. They’re at the top of the funnel when they walk into your store or visit your website. They’ve completed the funnel when they purchase something or join up for a service. You should strive to think of new ways to get customers to progress down the funnel so you can make a sale. This could involve giving them a discount or obtaining their contact information so that you can send them information about your company.

3. Enhance customer loyalty

what steps should you take to expand your small business

Getting new customers for your business isn’t enough. You must also keep your current clients returning. Increased client retention leads to increased customer loyalty, which can lead to increased sales.

Because it costs five times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to keep an existing one, concentrating on customer retention ensures that your company doesn’t waste money on things that aren’t a sure bet.

You can improve customer retention by doing the following:

Prioritizing customer service: Customers will not want to support your business if you do not treat them well. Making certain that their complaints are addressed and that they get the finest experience possible demonstrates that you regard them as a customer.

Using a customer relationship management (CRM) system entails the following steps: CRM software aids in the management of client connections, both current and potential. They aid in the management of customer information and the identification of sales possibilities. One of the most significant advantages is that the data is maintained in one location, making it accessible to you and other employees who require it.

Developing a customer loyalty program: These programs reward your current customers for their continued support of your company. They can also assist you in attracting new clients or re-engaging those who have left your company.

Launching an email campaign: Using an email campaign, you can ensure that your company remains in the minds of your customers. It’s also an effective approach to move current and prospective consumers through your sales funnel.

Engaging with customers on social media: Customers may contact your company via social media with a query or to provide comments, concerns, or pain points. Taking the time to answer and connect with them demonstrates that you value their opinions and are concerned about their problems.

Keep your commitments: Nobody enjoys being forgotten. If you tell a consumer you’ll contact them with further information or at a later time, follow through. If you don’t, your clients may have a negative view of your company.

4. Create Landing Page

A landing page is any web page that a customer can land on, but in marketing, it’s usually a standalone page that serves a single and focused goal, separate from your homepage or any other page. A landing page serves as a follow-up to any promises made in your content. It’s essentially the next step in the process of a visitor becoming a customer. In exchange for supplying contact information, your landing page allows you to make a trade, a special offer, a piece of information, or a bargain.

Landing pages can be click-through sites that lead to another page, such as your e-commerce site, or they can be lead-generation pages. In exchange for submitting contact information, lead-generating landing sites usually provide an eBook, a free trial, a contest entry, or a webinar registration. A smart landing page will do its job by persuading a potential consumer that providing personal information in exchange for anything you have to offer is worthwhile. Landing pages can be accessed via a general search or through your company’s website, boosting the chances of a potential consumer landing there.

Use Storecook to make a beautiful and attractive landing page. Click Here.

5. Make Corporate Social Responsibility a priority.

Many clients prefer to do business with a firm whose values are similar to their own. You realize the impact your firm has on all elements of the community when you practice corporate social responsibility (CSR). Allowing the general public to see what your company is doing to make a positive effect can boost your bottom line.

Here are some examples of how your company can engage in CSR:

Going green: The advantages of operating a green business extend beyond lower utility expenses. It demonstrates to the public that you are serious about decreasing your company’s environmental effect. Get LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification or pursue energy-efficient initiatives to become green and lower your carbon impact.

Volunteering in the communities where your workers live and work: Encourage your employees to volunteer in the communities where they live and work. Working at a food bank or cleaning up open spaces, for example, demonstrates that your company is serious about contributing to the community and its people.

Finding ways to make more environmentally friendly products: See if there are any changes you can make to your materials or process to make more environmentally friendly items.

6. Create strategic alliances

Creating a strategic alliance with another company can help you access a larger consumer base or match your growth with your business plan’s strategic goals. Starbucks with other national retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Target are an example of a successful strategic relationship. The arrangement expands the coffee chain’s reach and earnings by placing it in a variety of retail locations around the country.

You may even develop a strategic alliance with a vendor to aid in the expansion of your company. It’s critical to manage business partnerships and maintain efficient vendor relationships, regardless of the type of collaboration you make.

7. Consider selling your small business as a franchise.

For small firms, franchising is a frequent growth strategy. This means you transfer the rights to your company to a third party. After that, they open and run their own franchise of your company. McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Marriott hotels are just a few of the well-known firms that sell franchises. When a new franchise opens, it expands your company’s number of locations, which helps you generate more money.

Is your business franchisable? Before you agree to sell the rights to your firm, you must first determine if it is. Certain types of businesses, such as fast-food restaurants or gyms, are more suited to franchising.

8. Make Your Product or Service Offerings More Diverse

You’ve had a lot of success selling clients your main product or service. After all, it was because of this that you decided to expand your little firm. Now, having a variety of items or services can assist you in attracting new customers. This can be accomplished by:

Identifying new product or service opportunities: Conduct market research to determine if you can offer your clients something new to buy.

Inventing new ways to sell your existing products: Subscriptions and bundles are examples of this.

The moment is one company that has grown through broadening its product offerings. The company’s first products were smartphone lenses that improved photography. The company’s product line has now been expanded to include apps and accessories for use with its lenses.

9. Extend to New Markets

There’s no denying that franchising allows you to expand your customer base. However, if your company isn’t franchisable, there are other options, such as expanding your company through exporting.

You may transport your products and services all over the world if you find exporting prospects. The following are some of the advantages of exporting:

• Using global platforms to offer your goods and services on the internet
• Possibility of establishing new business sites
• Access to a larger number of customers and businesses

Take your firm global, and you’ll have the opportunity to grow your market share.

10. Find out what works and improve it as you go.

While you can utilize a variety of techniques to build your small business, it’s critical that you track what’s working. If you construct a customer loyalty program and discover that it isn’t increasing client retention, you may need to adjust your strategy. Getting a CRM and communicating with your consumers on a regular basis, or engaging with them via email or social media, could be the answer.