Growing a new business? Congratulations! This can be a very exciting time, as there is all the possibility in the world for what your business can become. While every business owner would like to become successful, the path isn’t very cut-and-dried.
Each business has its own set of circumstances and variables that influence its success, but you control more than you might think. Here are 10 tips that can help you get on track to becoming a successful business owner:
How to Make Your Business a Success
1. Get Organized and Be Efficient
The biggest enemy of any business is disorganization and inefficiency. It leads to wasted time, lost sales, incorrect orders, angry customers, and possibly the tax man knocking down your door. Make your life easier by getting a CRM system for your business – an online platform where you can organize your contacts, orders, projects, and customer service cases. Start today with a 30-day free trial of 1CRM.
2. Good Ideas Can Come From Anywhere
Many businesses can make the fatal mistake of only listening to those who are in the board room, rather than those who participate in the day-to-day running of the business. Those people can often tell you what is standing between you and success. Listen to them whenever possible, because not only could they have great ideas, but they are also more likely to stay with a company in which they feel valued. This also includes listening to your customers’ ideas on how to improve your business or products!
3. Experiment and Be Creative
Being safe never got anyone noticed. If you’re going to run your own business, dare to be creative and make it the best it can be. Just because no one has done it before, doesn’t mean that it isn’t a genius idea.
4. Analyze Your Competition
Does someone else have a similar idea or business model to yours? Check them out. What are they doing right? What could be done more efficiently? Learn from their experiences, and think of how you can differentiate your business to either serve their customers better (steal their customers), or appeal to a different, possibly neglected target audience.
5. Stay True to Your Vision
Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are. Stay true to your vision for your business, and embrace what makes you unique. If there’s a big fish in your industry, don’t try to be a replica of them, because you will not do it as well as them – stick to your own vision instead to succeed in your own right.
6. Understand the Risks and Rewards
Many say you have to spend money to make money. While this can be true, some fall into the trap of spending way too much money, and then failing to make it back in time. Not only can this cause undue stress, it can also put you out of business before you’ve really begun. Unless you’re absolutely sure that the risk is worth the reward, don’t take big risks when starting your business – start small and grow effectively each year.
7. Provide Great Customer Service
Nothing will scare a customer away faster than a terrible customer service experience. Instead, entice them to come back by offering an above-and-beyond customer experience. Forgot their change? Call it on the house for the day. Remember their orders, address people with their names without asking what they are first. Be helpful, patient, and provide customer incentives for a bit of extra fun whenever possible! This also applies to responding to customer complaints or service cases in a timely and efficient manner. You can keep track of those within the CRM system 1CRM.
8. Don’t Become Content
You’ve become profitable? Great! Profits are increasing each year, fantastic! Early retirement here I come! – Not so fast – The tides can always change, whether in the form of a new competitor, change in customer demand or economics. Profits can decrease, leading to layoffs, and your business possibly going under unless you’re always working to stay on top and continually evolve with the world. Also, building a business is half the fun of owning your own business! New and creative ideas, projects, and making your mark on the world. Dream big and don’t ever be content.
“The minute you’re satisfied with where you are, you aren’t there anymore.”
– Tony Gwynn, Hall of Fame Baseball player
9. Stay Consistent
Do you have a great system that works? Stick with it! Why some businesses succeed and others don’t can often be narrowed down to a few key details. While it’s great to experiment to evolve and grow, be careful to not pull the wrong string and unravel it all. Whenever possible, experiment with new products or services, while still offering the ones your customers currently know and love. Replacing them completely can shock and anger customers, like when Coca Cola unsuccessfully tried a new recipe. Consistency also includes your messaging and colour schemes, to create an identity for your company.
10. Be Patient
Rome was not built in a day, and your business won’t be either. It takes patience, hard work, and a lot of hours to make your business a success. Most won’t become an overnight success of a Startup, and that’s ok! Enjoy the process of making your own business, contributing something to society, and providing great opportunities for others to work for your great company! There are no silver bullet answers when it comes to growing a business. There’s a lot of trial and error, planning, and a bit of luck.
Got experience? What are your best practice tips for fellow business owners?
Leave a comment below and let me know!
Thanks for the tips! It seems like providing great customer service can’t be emphasized enough when building a business. One of the main reasons why customers return to a business is because of their previous experience with their customer service. I’m in retail, so providing the customer service that our customers expect is vital to keeping their business. Going above and beyond the service you provide also helps a great deal, especially when clients don’t expect it, so it’s always important for managers and others working in business to do all that they can do and more for their clients.
Information about your market must be detailed in your business plan. Inorder to grow your business, you must show great aware of both opportunities and threats, which requires considering your strengths and weaknesses.