Most of the time, small business growth results from sustained effort and planning. Sure, a celebrity might snap a shot of your handmade bath bomb tomorrow and set social media alight with talk of your cherry soda shower fizz. But if Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian doesn’t happen upon your product or service, you’ll need to drive that growth yourself.
- Streamline your customer relationships: Strong customer relationship management (CRM) is the backbone for several aspects of your business. Look for software that’s intuitive to use but also has all the functionality you think you will need. Check out our list of CRM software programs to find the right product for you. You’d be amazed at the difference a strong and integrated CRM strategy could make at every stage of the process. It can help you generate leads, improve sales, and retain more customers.
- Increase your online presence: Whether it’s a blog, website, or social media, a strong online presence can be a cost-effective way to connect with many people. Try not to view your website as a static entity that you create and then ignore. If you introduce new products or change your prices, your website needs to reflect those changes. Make sure you post regularly on various channels and aim to create content that fits with your company’s products but is also informative. For example, if you run a hardware store, you might produce content on how to pick the right drill for different scenarios. Think about how a blog post might translate into a Twitter post or Instagram video so that you can reformat the content for different types of social media.
- Invest in your team: Keeping good employees can be challenging, especially for small businesses. Talented people may get lured away by bigger companies that can offer more perks and higher salaries. This can leave a big hole in small teams and could cause work to fall through the cracks.
