Growing your Business

Last night we reviewed some ideas on new business opportunities. Tonight we are going to briefly cover other ideas on growing your business. When the economy is great, money flows easily and readily. When the economy is robust, even poorly run businesses survive. They say that money cures many evils, which is true. But when the money flow slows, or even comes to a halt, that is when we separate the good from the poorly run businesses.

As money coming in slows down, many business owners finally take a good hard look at their financial statements (sometimes this is the first time they have looked in a very long time) and start finding ways to reduce expenses or basically cut costs. It is in times like these where you find the efficient businesses begin to grow. In times of economic downturns many new business opportunities spring up, filling the gap from those that no longer exist. It is less expensive to find rental space, products may cost less and more companies and people are more willing to sell at lower prices.

If you want your business to grow though, you always have to remember the customer. Continue to build your long-relationship with them. Don't forget to do a follow up call, find out if the customer is happy with your product or service. Find out what else they would like to see you provide. They may offer some very helpful insights into growing your business or product line. Keep your customers happy because they are one of the best marketing tools that you have. If your customers are happy, they will do all the advertising for you at no cost to you. But, conversely, if your customers are unhappy with your business, product or services, they will tell more people than you could ever reach with expensive advertising campaigns.

As we have discussed before, the customer is king and they are your best marketing tool. Be sure that you have under-promised and over-delivered. Always smile, and smile honestly, do not put on a fake smile, the customers can tell the difference. If you are having a bad day, strive to not let that problem run over onto your sales floor so that the customers may experience it too. Be sincere, and most importantly, be honest with your customers. They will remember and reward you with your honesty by keeping a long-term relationship with you.

If you have a list of customers who have utilized your products or services in the past, don't be afraid to send them a brief newsletter, letting them know what is happening and what new promotions you may currently have in place. You may be surprised to see some older customers come back because of your brief newsletter. In your newsletter, do not try to sell your customers something, more importantly, offer a service for them. Become a "go-to" source of information for your customer. Allow them to feel comfortable asking you questions without them fearing you are going to push a sale onto them. You want your customers to see you as a valuable asset, not someone to be avoided.

If you keep your communications up with your current and old customer base, you may be surprised at the positive response you receive. Don't send them countless messages about sales, send a brief, monthly newsletter and perhaps sprinkle that newsletter with some fun anecdote's. People are always looking for something to feel good about, perhaps provide a positive, or inspirational story (again brief) and you may discover your customers looking forward to your monthly missives. If they like what they read, they may even share your newsletters with others, again advertising for you.

The benefit for keeping the message short should be obvious. How many of us have time to read all of the messages from our Inbox anymore? Keep your message short, don't advertise too hard, and allow your customers to have fun reading your monthly message.

Hopefully these ideas were helpful and will benefit you in growing your business.

If you are looking for an additional income stream, we do offer some small business opportunities. Feel free to review our website for ideas and contact us with any questions you may have.

Until tomorrow...