How To Ensure Your Business Grows

Establishing a small business is a dream for many contracted workers. Taking the step can be tricky, especially if you’re quitting your job in order to do so.

In the UK, around 660,000 new companies are registered each year. But just under a third of these will shut up shop within three years, and twenty percent won’t make it past twelve months.

If yours is to succeed on a consistent, long-term basis, and not only keep operating, but grow and thrive, you’ll need to put the right structures in place to support that success, and to follow a philosophy that’s conducive to long-term growth.

So what characterises a business that grows over time? Let’s take a look.

Commit to Excellence

Truly successful businesses aren’t content with offering goods and services that are merely satisfactory. They strain every sinew to get excellent ratings from every customer they serve. Helping to drive this are star rating systems, like you’ll find on Trustpilot.

Retain Customers

To keep your business rolling, you’ll need to bring in new customers. But, perhaps more importantly, you’ll need to entertain the existing ones. Every transaction should be viewed as an opportunity to impress, and bring back custom in the future. Your existing customers will then act as marketers, helping to spread the word without you having to lift a finger.

Self-analyse

We all make mistakes, just as much in our personal lives as we do in our professional ones. But if we don’t learn from our mistakes, then we lose a value chance at self-improvement. The most successful businesses seek feedback from impartial outside sources, and from customers themselves. Act on this feedback and you’ll see that your business improves, year-upon-year. If you’re constantly asking yourself what you can do better, and you’re examining the question in a structured way, your upward trajectory will be irresistible. 

Network

Networking is critical. You need to meet with new people, and not just in the digital world. Find out where your industry’s conferences are, and make a point of attending them. Make contact with Facebook groups which focus on your area of expertise. If you’re a local business serving local people, then keep an eye on local groups on social media, too, and make sure that you establish a presence.

Borrow to Invest

If you have done your homework, then you’ll know when you’re onto a good thing. But sometimes a cash-injection is required to give your business the momentum it needs. Don’t stall for months on end, waiting for the ball to get rolling; give it a kick with a help of finance from a business credit card, or a business overdraft for example.