There are 32.5 million small businesses in the U.S., with new brands popping up to capture growing market share every day. Starting a new business can seem daunting in such a highly competitive market. But with so many companies and tools available to serve small businesses, the startup journey doesn’t have to be as scary as many have painted it.
There is no secret formula to surpass competitors in the market or make everyone want to buy the goods you’re selling. However, some practices can help stimulate business growth:
1. Focus on the Right Audiences
2. Identify the Biggest Problems
3. Hire Wisely
4. Take Advantage of Technology
If you’re getting your business started or restarted, these are 4 tips to help accelerate your success.
Focus on the Right Audiences
Your product or service is so good that everyone will want it, right?! Wrong. One common mistake entrepreneurs make when starting is trying to sell to everyone. For example, Nike is one of the largest brands in the world, but not everyone buys Nike – they have an audience. Find yours.
When you’re strategizing how to drive traffic to your website, you want to make sure it’s the target audience you want to visit. For example, if you’re a small business selling paper mache animals on Etsy, you probably don’t want to target those who dislike arts and crafts. Make sense?
You will have the best chance of success selling your offerings faster if you have an audience in your reach that is already interested.
The narrower your focus is on audiences, the better you’ll be able to attract, influence, and serve them. It will also help guide product direction and help you save money and maximize your marketing spend, which is critical in your earliest stages.
Identify the Biggest Problems
Discover what value you bring to your target market and if it is in line with what is aching them the most. This rule applies to nearly every business sector.
If you’re a small business selling organic soaps, what problem with skin are you solving? If you’re a specialized travel agency, what burdensome problems with booking travel are you trying to eliminate? These answers will help you build relatable content, essential in building trust.
Producing content that they can learn from – whether it be about your business, products, or customer tutorials – will help build your brand credibility. If customers believe that you understand their problem, they will be more trusting in your ability to solve it. In addition, 62% of customers want content directly addressing their pain points.
Listen to what your audience is saying on social media, conduct surveys and incentivize responses, and keep close attention to any support problems that customers frequently mention. These insights provide valuable information that will help your relationship with them grow.
Hire Wisely
If you don’t have the right talent behind your business, your business will fall behind. So you have to plan for growth from the very beginning.
When businesses are in the early stages, wearing multiple hats is expected and part of the journey. But as a company grows, how delegation happens is critical to future success.
Determine what roles fill your most significant gaps and develop a timeline around your hiring needs. Is it a Head of Growth? Is it a Marketing Manager? Is it a Sales Development Rep? Start with your desired result and work backward when creating your plan, so you’re always building with growth in mind.
These answers will also help you decide what hiring strategy is right for your business. You’ll want to establish a strong team dynamic before adding anyone else to your mix. A solid dynamic and company culture will help attract and retain quality talent.
Take Advantage of Technology
Even if you are a solo founder running a small business and can’t afford a staff, some technologies can be your most reliable partners.
Whether you are incorporating conversational AI into your business, staffing your website with 24/7 chat support, setting up email automation to help communicate promotions to your prospect lists, or establishing social automation to schedule posts in advance, there are technologies to lift the burden of many day-to-day tasks.
If the budget is inexistent, take advantage of free tools so you can funnel your future budget elsewhere. They can be accommodating early on, and then you’ll have room to incorporate paid tools as your company scales slowly.
There is no need to wear too many hats and spread yourself thin when technologies are ready and available to take on your projects especially if you can use all-in-one tools like marketing software from Adplorer and manage all processes at once.
Invest in Your Journey
Time is more valuable than money. Starting a business is a journey and involves a heavy investment of time. Don’t spend too much time in areas that are holding you up; instead, play on your strengths and look for help to maximize how you spend your time.
If you’re an entrepreneur who is a terrible designer, either look for resources who can design for you or take classes on how to be a better designer. Just winging it and figuring things out by your mistakes can be helpful but won’t help your business grow at your desired pace.
Be adaptable. Learn as much about your market – your customers, prospects, and competitors. The more information you have, the more familiar you’ll be with your prospective buyers, and the easier it will be to grow your business.
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