If you are a budding entrepreneur, then you may be wondering what is the key to achieving business growth. The truth is no one thing can help you to achieve business growth. There are a multitude of things you should be doing as a business owner to help take your business to the next level.
Today, we will be sharing with you our helpful guide for achieving business growth in 2021.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Blogging
Too many businesses shy away from putting regular content onto their blog. Either that, or they don’t even have a blog at all! This can be down to several reasons. One is the fact that they may not deem it as an important resource to have.
However, blogging plays an essential role in business growth and those who utilise it tend to see a dramatic increase in traffic to their website along with an increase in sales. You may be surprised to know that according to a recent survey, 60% of consumers say blog posts are valuable in the early stages of the buying process. So, if your business doesn’t blog, it’s time to change that. Not only can blogging help you boost your search ranking position through the use of long-tail keywords, but it can also build your brand.
Invest In Your Team
Behind every successful business is a team of hardworking and skilled individuals. If you want your business to grow it’s time to start investing in your team. As a business owner, you want to do everything you can to increase productivity levels and improve employee retention. To achieve this, you’ll need to ensure that you have built a strong company culture. You want your employees to feel like they are working in a positive environment. It’s important to be responsive to employees’ needs and understand that they have a personal life outside of the job.
Without a strong team behind you, your business growth will be stunted. Learn about how to create and maintain a good company culture, so that you can grow your business and create a great place to work for your existing and future staff.
Network
It may not be for everyone but attending networking events can be beneficial as they allow you to connect with like-minded people in your chosen industry. These events are opportunities for you to learn from people who have been in the business for years. They can share with you their unique insights into how they feel a business should be run and you can certainly learn a great deal to help you grow your business in a way that you may never have thought of before.
Some of the connections that you make from these events can be beneficial for you and your business for years to come. Networking can be a challenge for many people, and it can often feel quite daunting. If this is the case, try to start networking on social media to build you up for one day of attending a real-life event. You can go into the events with ease knowing you can spot a familiar face to gravitate towards.
Streamline Your Processes
Although your team hold huge importance for your brand, there are also some other areas that you can focus on which will allow you to increase workflow daily. Streamlining some of your business processes can help your workplace run more efficiently whilst saving you both time and money in the process.
You should regularly be taking the time out to analyse the current workflow in your workspace. Try to identify key areas which you think need work and then work together with your team to come up with new ideas on how you can automate those processes.
Acquire Invoice Finance
Invoice financing could well be your answer to improved cash flow for your business. This is the ideal solution for those of you who feel like your company growth is stunted by the slow payment of invoices. You may be wondering how invoice financing can help with this. Typically, you will continue to operate as normal and invoice your customers. You will then pass the details of this invoice to an invoice finance provider. The provider then pays you an agreed percentage. It is important to note that this percentage varies between providers.
Although it may sound like a complex process, it is fairly simple. With the help of companies like Capalona, you will be able to brush up on your knowledge of invoice finance so, you can start using it to help your business grow in the future. Their team of experts are on hand to give you a quote and you can use their invoice finance calculator to find out how much you could raise with invoice funding.
Improve Your Search Engine Ranking
If you are relying on potential customers to find your website through a Google search, then you should be prioritising search engine optimisation (SEO). Sure, having a fully functioning website packed full of products is great but how are you meant to generate potential leads if no one can find it? You may be surprised to know that the number one result on a Google search gets between 26% and 32% of clicks. So, it’s time to start doing your bit to climb through the ranks.
You will need to ensure that your website is updated regularly. As previously mentioned, starting a blog is a great place to start. Try to identify any long-tail keywords that consumers will associate with your business when looking for your product on a Google search. It is important to integrate these keywords into your content. However, do not keyword stuff as search engines will condemn this activity and it could lead to a search penalty. Luckily, when it comes to improving your SEO, there is plenty of information readily available to you online to help get you started.
Be Adaptable
For businesses to grow in fiercely competitive markets, they need to have the ability to adapt to survive. The world of business is constantly evolving and there is always a new trend waiting around the corner. As a business owner, you need to be able to switch the direction of your business quickly. So, if one approach fails, you can pick yourself up, try something new and carry on. It is a wise idea to keep up to date with the news in your market. Try to identify upcoming trends and start to utilise them.
Internet fame is also an important area to focus on. For instance, if you see an influencer on Instagram who is gaining followers at a fast rate, it can be a good idea to pay them to endorse your product. Influencer culture is rising in popularity and many influencers have helped brands connect better with their audiences. 17% of companies spend over half their marketing budget on influencers, which should give you an idea of how important this movement is.
Improve Your Customer Service
Excellent customer service is crucial if you want to build a good reputation for your brand whilst helping to gain more customers in the process. If you exceed your customers’ expectations, then they are likely to recommend your company to their friends and family. Customer service doesn’t just come down to responding to queries. If you want to make a good impression, then you must go the extra mile.
For example, if a customer has had a bad experience when purchasing an item from you, then it may be in your best interests to offer them a discount for when they next purchase a product/service from you. Not only does this show the customer that you care about their feedback, but it also shows that you are proactive and want to do everything that you possibly can to help improve your service in the future. Customers appreciate having a voice so if your customer service team is strong then you are on your way to building a strong reputation for yourself. This will certainly help you set yourself aside from competitors.
Research Your Competitors
It’s time to get familiar with your competitors if you haven’t done so already. Researching your competitors is crucial if you want to know how you can set yourself aside from them. Look at what content they post and try to identify what works and what doesn’t work so you can use this to your advantage. From your research, you will be able to spot any gaps in the market that you can slot your business into. Conducting this research is valuable for your business particularly if you are struggling with content ideas as you can look at what others are doing and from that you can decide how to differentiate yourself from them with the content you produce.
With the help of these top tips above, you will be well on your way to improved business growth and making yourself known in your chosen industry.