Three Reliable Strategies to Help Your Growing Business Up Its Game

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Growing your Business|Three Reliable Strategies to Help Your Growing Business Up Its GameOnce you’ve got your startup off the ground, your next exciting phase is all about growth and development. And it can be a steep learning curve! To establish your company as a leader in your field and beyond, you need to be able to stay stable through periods of explosive growth, even if your resources are stretched. Many companies hit a speed-wobble once the demand gets too high. Unless you can keep calm and carry on, your growing business may never reach its full potential.

So how do you ensure sure that your startup takes growth—and the many challenges that growth brings—in its stride? Putting into place these strategies could help you keep up with demand without sacrificing quality… or sanity!

Get Your IT Sorted Once And For All

One of the top challenges for emerging companies is trying to meet higher demand with limited IT capability. Once your business is on its way, it makes sense to use your incoming capital to iron out all the hitches in your IT department once and for all. Purchase specialized or purpose-built programs to make your life easier. Everything from HR to payroll can be greatly simplified with the right software for the job. Likewise, where hardware is concerned, now is the time to invest in optimizing things like your Cabling System and building access system.

As is often the case in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to IT services. Expensive custom-builds can be hard to justify before your business has peaked, but paying a little extra now is likely to pay off down the line, as you’ll end up with the perfect software solution, not just for the present moment, but to meet the additional demand as your business grows.

Take The Lead in Customer Service

Maintaining top standards in terms of service is essential to your ability to keep attracting and retaining new customers as demand goes up. Whether it’s through intensive training or technological enhancements, delivering an unmatched customer experience at every step of your customer journey will make it more likely that your business customer base will not only continue to expand, but also grow more loyal. Repeat business is the bread-and-butter of many businesses in the small to medium-sized bracket, so treating your customers like royalty is a sure-fire way to keep your ship stable when the storm clouds gather and the waves get a little choppy.

Nail Down Your Brand Voice

Once your company starts to grow and your brand gets more exposure, this is a crucial time to invest in the voice of your brand. You can do this in-house, but you may get a better result if you get professional help. Find a copywriter who can demonstrate that they ‘get’ what your brand is all about, and get them to help you distill and clarify what your business sounds like—how you talk to your customers, pitch your ideas, and even speak amongst yourselves within your organization. A skilled copywriter will produce a “Brand Bible” for you to distribute among your team, ensuring that all internal and external communications (from website copy to client emails and social media posts) are in line with your brand values, and how you see yourselves as an organization. Having a cohesive brand voice is crucial to building rapport with your audience and fostering trust in your brand.

Whether you employ two people or two hundred, dealing with growth can be a huge challenge. These tips will help you embrace change and deal with whatever the market throws at you.

Need A Little More Oomph? Here’s How You Can Add That Extra Something To Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Growth|Need A Little More Oomph? Here’s How You Can Add That Extra Something To Your BusinessWhen you first come up with your business idea, your mind is completely and utter driven. You might not be at the peak of your motivation and productivity, but the excitement and invigoration have your mind racing at a rate of knots. With all of the potential ahead of you, all you can then think of is the number of different opportunities and avenues that are out there.

When things start to get a little more up and running, that’s when you have even more energy and bite. You actually see your work pay off in terms of output and income, so you and your partners/employees are functioning more than speedily! The motivation that comes from actually seeing results is like no other: not only does it make you feel as though you’ve gotten over the line, but it also makes you want even more. It’s quite an addictive feeling.

But, like with the majority of things in life, your work can go a little stale. The honeymoon period can wear off, and the motivation can drop off a little. It’s frustrating, but it’s completely normal – every single person on the planet drops off at one time or another. You can’t be expected to maintain the same level forever. Even the highest performers in all sectors and fields do it. It’s especially common in environments that have the same kind of work over and over again. Human beings need a little variety in their lives or a bit of extra stimulation. If they aren’t being presented with any, then things can plateau or decline slightly.

When you’re trying to run a successful business, how can you deal with the slight wane? If you’ve never encountered this kind of adversity before, then it might seem like a massive issue. There are things you can do to boost things a little, though. Whether it’s for yourself, your team, or the business as a whole; oomph can be added! If you’re in any way interested in knowing what we’re talking about, then have a little read of the following points. Some of them may jog your memory and give you a few more ideas!

Have Frequent Training Programs

In order to keep things fresh and keep brains constantly developing, you might need to break the monotony a little bit. One of the best ways to do this is by having training days every now and again. This will obviously benefit all of the staff because they’ll pick up new ideas and abilities during and after. If they’re constantly stuck in a mundane environment where they’re not challenged by fresh stimuli, then it’ll be likely that they’ll slow down a little.

The overall mood in the camp will also be boosted as a training day makes everyone feel a little better. They’re no longer stuck in the intense and pressurized working environment. Instead, they’re moved to a new area and given different tasks that are often fused with some kind of entertainment. It’s like being back in school again after all these years – minus the social pressure, and with more of a laid back approach.

Get Some Investment

This sounds like a pretty obvious point because every single business could do with this kind of assistance. Most of the time, in order to make more money, you need to spend more money. Having that extra capital can make such a massive difference to every tangible and intangible aspect of your business. If you can conjure up a wonderful plan and pitch, and convince people out there that what you’re doing is going to work, then you could be in for a huge hike. Angel investors are usually sniffing around for the next best business to invest in. Banks are also there for you to work with.

Work With A Digital Marketing Group

In this day and age, if you want to be able to make as much money as possible, you need to be able to have that smart online touch. It’s obviously not a mandatory part of your venture, but it can be the difference between a prosperous year and an average one. Marketing agencies have always been around, but in the past decade or so, digital marketing firms, like Thunderhawk SEO, have been popping up all over the world.

Whether you need some help with search engine optimization, or you need a group to help you expand your reach online, these particular companies will be able to show you the way and guide you through everything. Having that experience and know-how behind you can really boost business and revitalize your approach to certain areas.

Do Something About The Environment

Changing around the workplace can really stimulate the employees. If they are underperforming at any time, then playing with the office, warehouse, or factory might help a little. Your workplace and the stations within it will probably get a little messy or unorganized at some point. Perhaps getting everyone to spend a little while sorting things out could help. Obviously, you’ll want everything to be kept clean as nobody likes working in a murky area.

In terms of large and significant changes, you could revamp and redo the entire workplace. A refreshing feel around could get the staff to put their thinking caps back on. What about the idea of moving completely? If that’s plausible and feasible, then perhaps it’s something you could seriously consider.

Purchase Better Equipment And Software

Manual work is obviously a wonderful part of life, but it’s not without its flaws. Human error is absolutely inevitable; it happens all of the time; it will happen millions of times in the future. In order to work speedier and with fewer errors, you might want to think about using technology! There are so many programs and pieces of software that can help us work more efficiently.

If you’re working in a warehouse or factory environment with lots of different pieces of equipment, then improving on what you already have would make such a massive difference to the overall output.

Working With Distributors And The Balance Of Power

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Distributors|Working With Distributors And The Balance Of PowerRetail businesses have to continuously adapt to the changing market. How they distribute their products has to be subject to the means they have in the current climate. Drop shipping is something you may want to consider to lower your delivery and storage costs. But then again you’re putting your product in the hands of another company once it leaves the manufacturing facility. Other methods like wholesale retail such as Amazon, eBay and Google Shopping are all methods you must look into for your own business. Small businesses want to make it easy for themselves when it comes to logistics. Most of the budget has already gone onto design, testing and manufacturing. So how you distribute your products and sell them, is something you will most likely want to simplify. Usually, in order to simplify this process it will have to be taken out of your own hands. A balance power conundrum then occurs when you work closely with distributors.

Maintain your marketing plan

Distributors might have their own marketing department and use them to sell your product. This is an absolutely no-go as you need to maintain your own marketing campaign. Losing creative control is never something you should sacrifice because you want customers to perceive your product in a certain way. For example, if you are selling your safety razor product and have designed it to be beginner friendly, your distributor should present it as such. If you give away your marketing control over your own product, the distributor might display the razor as a product for the advanced shaver. This shifts your demographic and the dynamic of your customer relations.

Most of the time however, distributors won’t do this and instead, want to know what your marketing plan is. You’re still not out of the woods yet because even though the distributor has a policy of the partner having their own marketing plan, they still have their own policies of what is acceptable. If their terms and conditions for marketing plans don’t meet your own, you’ll need to consider a different distributor or change your plan slightly for that particular distributor. The key is, you maintain full control.

Integrity of worth

The main issue working with some distributors is, they will often try to undercut other distributors. This is quite evident in the smaller distributors that are more than happy to sell products at a price which they far exceed in terms of quality. If you are the victim of this, swift action needs to be taken. When your product is being sold at a cheap price when it’s worth so much more, your integrity takes a hit. Your business and product looks cheap, tacky and not very prestigious. This is a nightmare for those that want to build up their brand to be known for it’s high-quality.

You need a strong MAP policy which can be protected and overseen by a company that offers protection and therefore growth of your brand. The benefits are that you end the surprise for your internet sales channel, grow your sales with actionable sales intelligence and have your minimum advertised price and resale policy enforced via automation. When you set a minimum price for your product, any distributors you’re working with must abide by it.

Protecting your name

Wholesale retailers will create performance reports just like any other business. However if you don’t want your name featured in the reports you must agree to this before your agree on the partnership of sales. You might not want your name to be visible in the report because you may wish to not have your name associated with the retailer if they have a bad public relations incident. For example, if the distributor was found guilty of selling counterfeit products that either ripped off money from consumers or perhaps even hurt them, you don’t want your name featured anywhere near them in the press. Professional circles and businesses won’t take you seriously. Therefore you should always retain the right to protect your name featured in any of their sales and growth reports.

Working with distributors as a small retail business is part and parcel of your early years. Most small businesses spend most of their budget on the creation of products and are happy to save a lot of money by outsourcing their sales channels. However you must never lose the marketing control of your products so the narrative and demographics of your business are kept intact. You should also make sure your products are not being sold outside the boundaries of your MAP policy.

Why Your Business Needs to Collaborate

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Growing Your Business|Why Your Business Needs to CollaborateRunning a small business is challenging, exciting, hard work, demanding, all-consuming and ultimately if you do it well, exceptionally rewarding. But, finding ways to grow and improve that business is tough. One thing that you might consider is collaborating with other companies, either in your field or your local area. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should.

It’s Easy

Business is hard. Growing your business is tough. Coming up with new ideas all of the time and dealing with admin is hard work, and finding new ways to market your business can seem impossible. It can also be terribly complicated. Use contract management and collaboration can be easy. Which means it’s always worthwhile.

To Reach a New Audience

When you collaborate, whoever it is with, their audience, or at least part of it, become your audience. You’ll reach more people without having to do any extra work.

Collaboration Increases Trust

As a new business, it’s hard to gain trust, but crucial that you do if you want to grow. Collaborate with a more experienced and well-respected partner, and the world will start to trust your business too.

Collaboration Can Lead to Inspiration

Do you ever get a creative block? When you feel stuck and as though you can’t move forward or come up with a new idea to push your business forward. We’ve all been there at some point. Collaborate with other business people and creatives, and they will inspire you. They’ll show you new ways to do things and to think, and you could come out of it buzzing with new ideas.

To Grow Your Network

Networking is so vital for small businesses. It gives you a chance to make meaningful connections, for both now and in the future. It gives you access to knowledge and sources of information. It helps you to grow your business and gives you a chance to learn. Networking can also help you to build a helpful support network of people that understand you. Collaborating with other companies in your field, and local companies is a fantastic way to add people to your network.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Growing Your Business|Why Your Business Needs to CollaborateMoney-Saving

Often, when we collaborate with other businesses, we split costs. Your marketing bill, staff costs and other expenses might not be too much higher, but the costs to your business might be halved. Doubling your budget for the task in hand. Collaborating can also mean that you get free access to an expert and skilled workers. It’s a great way to save money.

Power in Numbers

Have you heard the saying “two heads are better than one”, while it’s not always true, and some of us work much better on our own, when it comes to collaboration in business, it can be. As a small business owner, you might spend your time trying to be an expert on everything, and it doesn’t always work. There might be issues In your business that you just can’t find a solution to, or problems that you can’t seem to overcome. Collaborate with another business, an influencer, or even a freelancer, and you’ll have fresh eyes, and another head to help you, even if it’s just short term.

Tips For Managing A Business Expansion

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Tips For Managing A Business Expansion
 
Expanding your company is an exciting time, and hopefully it will enable you to boost profits, establish yourself as a key player in the industry and compete with the bigger brands. Expansion can also be disruptive and hard to manage because it will have an impact on your current operation and there are often a few teething issues too. Being aware of a few expansion tips could help to minimize the negative impact that expansion can bring as well as help you to manage any troubles that you encounter along the way. Read on for advice if you are planning on expanding your company.

Conduct Research & Planning

Much like when you first launch a business, it is vital that you spend time researching and planning so that you can make an intelligent business decision. You should never rush into an expansion and have a solid plan in place so that you can minimize disruption and hit the ground running.

Create A New Workspace

One of the best ways to expand a business is to open a new office space. This can give you and your team more room for operating and allows you to scale up the entire operation. This should always be a practical and comfortable space, and you will want to find an experienced architect from your local area to design the workspace, such as a Detroit architect. This way you will get a space which allows your entire operation to thrive and create a comfortable working environment for staff.

Introduce New Technology

Technology can always be used to improve a business, and it is a smart way of expanding because it can streamline the operation, make work easier for your team and even improve the quality of the product/service that you provide.

Keep Customers Happy

Going through a period of expansion can create a few issues, but it is essential that you are able to keep your customers happy during this time. Keeping customers happy ensures that you are able to retain and attract customers and keep the business afloat during a period of uncertainty. This can be challenging when there are major changes happening. However, by making customer service a priority you should be able to maintain a positive reputation.

Manage Finances

There are a number of financial implications that need to be considered when expanding, and this is an area that needs careful planning. You may want to consider securing funding for the expansion, collect any outstanding debts and reduce operating costs for this period so that you can manage your finances and keep the business ticking over while you expand.

Expansion should always be viewed as a positive as it allows your company to grow and compete at a higher level, but it can also be a challenging period to manage. Expanding a business can be disruptive, and there are often hurdles that need to be overcome, so you need to know how to manage this period effectively, and the above tips should help you to achieve this.