Increasing revenue and company growth is an ongoing quest for business-owners. In today’s business landscape, remaining competitive requires constant adaptation and readjustment. Thankfully, the fundamentals of vision, perseverance, and strength will never change; however, with changing times and technologies comes the necessity to change up your strategies and up your game.
Running your own business means you get to reap huge benefits during the good times, but it also sometimes means there’s less insulation between you and the inherent volatility of the market. Thankfully, there are certain preventative measures that can be employed which safeguard against disaster.
Keep track of your numbers
To many larger or better-established businesses, proper record-keeping is a given. However, when it comes to many new or smaller companies, this tends to be one of the duties that often gets swept under the rug. This sets your business up for disaster in the event that you need to go back and check any records or numbers for any reason in the future.
Many businesses today are benefiting from a centralized data system, which makes all machine data from across the business easily visualized. This can help you identify strengths and weaknesses within the workflow and target problem areas accordingly.
You should also be keeping track of all business transactions if you aren’t already, including dates, times, and all items sold/purchased. This allows you to get the most out of potential tax benefits, while also making sure any order disputes or refunds are properly documented.
Define your goals
As if proof were needed, studies indicate that defining goals improves performance. This rule may seem obvious, but it’s absolutely worthy of mention. Without defining what your goal is, you are left wandering in the dark without direction or knowing whether you’ve accomplished success or not.
It’s not good enough to say “I want my business to have a lot of customers and make a lot of money.” You need to be precise with your goals, and the more specific, the better. If the goal of having a Fortune 500 company seems a bit insurmountable for the time being, break it down into smaller goals via benchmarks.
Remain flexible
As companies get larger, they often lose the agility that their smaller former selves benefitted from. A growing company has advantages in many areas, but maintaining a sense of flexibility is paramount. Of Fortune 500 companies active in 1955, only 12% were still in operation in 2016.
Just because something works for your business today is no guarantee that it will work next year or even next week. You must stay honest and grounded with your capabilities.
Keep a motivated workforce
Your company is nothing without employees that genuinely care about what they are doing. Your strategy should involve empowering your employees and providing them with a sense of dignity in the job they do. This means avoiding micromanaging and granting your workers a sense of autonomy. This builds trust and guarantees your workforce is firing on all cylinders.
One freedom that many employers are having success with is work schedule flexibility or working remotely. With increasingly powerful communication technologies, remote work has become increasingly feasible, while also promoting employee satisfaction.
Part of having a motivated workforce involves smart hiring practices, which can, in turn, improve market share. This spells a bright future for your company, along with high rates of retention. With higher employee retention, you can shape your workforce to become pliable and multi-faceted in their skill sets.
Stay in touch with consumers
Just as improvements in communication strengthens your employee relationships, it also provides increased potential to improve consumer relationships. In addition, since many businesses are getting smart to this, it also places pressure on you to rise with the tide.
Social media are among the best tools available to a savvy business. Studies indicate that when integrated as part of a larger overarching strategy, social media marketing is highly effective. It allows you to facilitate a relationship with a nearly limitless pool of consumers.
When it comes to increasing your market share, brand awareness is the name of the game. Marketers understand that the mere act of letting people know you exist does wonders for your profits. This is why advertisers are so willing to shell out millions of dollars on just seconds of Super Bowl commercial time.
With the advent of social media and the viral spread of information comes both upsides and downsides that businesses need to contend with. For example, some happy consumers may share their experience online, but negative reviews can also spread like wildfire – sometimes bringing stock prices down in a matter of minutes. Make sure that you craft an online presence so that your business can engage in constructive dialogue with customers, as well as stifle any wildfires while they are still just a spark.