I speak with many incredible small business owners everyday who are passionate, proud and happy with what they have achieved. It’s not always the case that they want to keep expanding their business and grow in the traditional sense. They still want to grow, be successful, earn decent amounts of money and perhaps win awards – but stay as a small business.
So the question I want to help these business owners answer is – How do you grow your business without getting bigger?
Reputation
So, I mentioned winning awards and it is this kind of recognition that can really help to boost your reputation, or at the very least your perceived reputation – which is pretty much the same thing. However, the primary way you achieve a good reputation is by delivering a truly great service to your customers.
By helping your customers achieve their goals and ambitions you are demonstrating all the value that you have to offer. They will speak to other people and the word will spread. Some people will leave you reviews online and on your social media and this is when your reputation will really start to grow. In turn, this will make it easier to keep the customers that you already have and maybe sell even more to them. This is a way you can grow and increase your profit without necessarily needing more staff or space.
Profit
Making more money can sometimes mean that you need more staff or another office or retail premises…but not always. If you have more capacity at your current staffing levels, winning more business will help you increase your profits without the need for more people or space.
Its important that you understand what your capacity levels are and how much more work you can take. More profit doesn’t always mean more customers. It might be a simple case of increasing your prices in some areas or upselling your existing customers with more products and services. Or it might be a case of streamlining certain parts of your business to make the run more efficiently.
Culture
There is growing evidence to suggest that by creating the right culture in your workplace, you will be more profitable as a business. Your culture is not necessarily about what you do but about how you do it and why. Its your code of behaviour and must shine through every part of your business from how you work internally with your colleagues to how you interact with your customers.
Diversity can also play an integral part of your culture so being open and accepting to differences within others and with regards to the people you hire will also better represent your customers. Creating a culture of both inclusion and belonging within your team will also help you retain your staff. This will save you lots of money over time and help you create a real team mentality that you can build on.
Customer Satisfaction
I touched on this before because customer satisfaction is not just important for growth but is the cornerstone of any successful business. A happy customer ticks all the essential boxes. They will provide you and your team with a sense of satisfaction and a feeling that you are doing valued work which will re-enforce your solidarity and culture.
A happy customer will help you boost your reputation. A happy customer will spend more money with you and help you increase your profit too. So what I’m saying is this; make sure you get this bit right and everything else will follow. If you are not sure what your customers think of