Business Growth Matters

It should go without saying (although I’m going to say it), that growth is vital to the long-term sustainability of any business. In a region like the Sunshine Coast where lifestyle is paramount, why else would you be in business if not to increase your profits and make your business attractive to potential investors, potential buyers or provide you with an income that allows you to maximise your lifestyle?

To succeed in what is an increasingly volatile and unpredictable business environment regardless of the industry in which you operate, the key strategies for growing your business are essentially pretty simple.

• Increase the numbers of customers and clients
• Get your customers or clients to spend more money per sale or transaction
• Keep your customers or clients engaged for longer
• Increase the frequency of sales from your customers or clients.

Easy, right? Where it gets challenging and complex is HOW you do this. Navigating through the kaleidoscope of tools that are available to help your business achieve these strategies and deciphering which ones will work for you is not easy. It can be so overwhelming and confusing that many business owners and managers end up just working harder and longer, doing the same things they have always done. We all know the quote about doing the same thing and expecting a different result?

Business success requires constant change because the rate at which customers, clients, technology and the business environment are changing, is greater than ever before. Businesses that don’t change and grow ultimately wither and fade. In fact, research shows that the riskiest period for businesses is not the first or second years of operation, its the third and fourth years where they need to be courageous and grow.

So how do business owners and managers increase customers and clients and get them to spend more money, more often, over a longer period of time?

• Develop new products or services you can add to your existing mix – New products and services keep your existing clients engaged and attract new customers into your business.
• Add value to existing products and services – Collaborate with other businesses that deliver complimentary products or services.
• Develop your workforce – Upskill, train and develop your employees resulting in greater productivity and better relationships with customers and clients
• Improve recruitment and the ways in which you identify new talent. Many businesses don’t get the skills they need to grow because they are looking in the wrong places
• Open up new markets – Bid for new business through public and private sector procurement opportunities; invest in new products / services; explore collaboration opportunities with complimentary businesses in other locations.
• Improve how you engage with your customers and clients – Drive more traffic to your website through better social media engagement and better integration of your marketing and advertising; increase the effectiveness of your marketing and advertising and increase sales conversion.

These tools and techniques are generally readily available and relatively inexpensive and can be implemented quickly and effectively. Most importantly, by focusing on these key areas you won’t be doing the same thing and expecting a different result – you will be growing your business. Because, business growth matters.