Owning a business means you never stop striving for more. It’s inspiring to see your company grow before your eyes and to see the results you produce for countless happy clients. Why do so many companies struggle to grow, then? Sure, no matter how big your business gets, it’s important to retain the feelings from your start-up days. Start-ups are nimble, feisty and dedicated, and their get-going attitude means they will always attract the right people. Any business that also adopts these values is setting a sure course to success. That said, a company needs to expand and, if it’s not increasing its revenue, number of employees and customer base, something is wrong. So, what goes into creating a compelling business that will grow and expand as needed? Learn to delegate – and hire people who can do it better Don’t be stuck by hiring people who won’t be able to grow your business. In the very beginning, the key to success is finding people who are even smarter and more passionate than you, and creating the culture that will make them want to stick with your business. As a business owner, you are in charge of development and growth. Anything else falls outside your job description. Writing website copy? Managing client expectations? These are things that fall outside of your job description and can be delegated to those who do it better. That way, you can have your mind focussed on growth, and growth only. If you hire people who can do things better than you, you’ll be on a constant course for progression. Retain your customers Even though it’s important to expand your revenue base and add new customers, it’s even more pertinent that you retain the customers who love you most. Loyal, long-term customers are more valuable than the ones who have just bought into your brand. Not only this, but they’re much cheaper to maintain as you don’t have to go through the initial marketing process and sales funnel again. Some people say the cost of on-boarding a new client could be up to than 30 times more expensive than keeping one around. Even more exciting, when you have some eager existing customers, you’ll be in a position to upsell new products. They already know your business message, and have an ‘in’ with your brand. Now add some more value to their contract with you. Be flexible in the face of change It’s a sure thing that businesses will face changes and challenges that will test their existing business models. Whether there’s market change and technological development, or your products aren’t getting the glowing reception from customers, it’s a sign that you need to shake things up. Here, it’s important to be honest with yourself. Even if you’ve spent months developing a new strategy, if it doesn’t give customers what they need, it makes no sense to keep it around. If many of your customers voice the same complaint, take note and adapt your service. If no one is picking up on your new product, either find a way to improve its design or market it better through measures such as search engine optimisation, or simply scrap it altogether. Nothing is off-limits.

Charlotte MacInnes

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