Is Your Small Business Reaching Its Growth Potential?
Entrepreneurs are always thinking of opportunities to grow their business. I’m sure every businessman or woman is trying to achieve his or her own version of the “American Dream” and increase the profitability of their company. So let’s get down to brass tacks. How can you accomplish an increase in business and make a move into a pre-engineered metal commercial building? Follow these tips to set yourself on the path to growth.
Product development
Find a way to work with your existing customers better. Sometimes, that means developing a product to help facilitate that transaction. At Armstrong Steel, we’ve had to consistently improve the way we do business with our customers to accommodate customer attitudes and market trends. If a customer would rather interact with you online, then it’s essential to establish and develop a user-friendly website. Cost, time and quality are the main variables that drive consumer needs. It might present an expensive up front cost for your business, but those costs can be absorbed when people start using your new product. Keep in mind, new product development is extremely time consuming and must be done in several steps from idea development, to analysis and beta testing and commercialization.
Diversify
Companies might diversify certain business activities so they can penetrate an existing market, possibly after they develop a new product. The idea of diversification is to expand into a business role that isn’t impacted the same as your current spot in the market. If one business endeavor doesn’t work, it doesn’t negatively impact the other parts of your company.
Minimize expansion costs
If you’ve ever bought a house, you know just the act of moving can be expensive. Renting moving trucks and buying new furniture are necessary expenses you’ll incur in the process. Unfortunately, you’ll spend money producing new collateral materials and changing your address. So what can you do to minimize expansion costs? If you investigate a move into a pre-engineered metal commercial building, you’ll find that those construction costs are close to half as much as traditional construction material costs. A steel building is fabricated and ready to be erected, with parts that are engineered to fit together the first time, the only time. That ensures you save on erection costs with no on-site delays because parts are missing or rented equipment must be returned. Almost anyone can erect a steel building, so the potential for labor cost is also reduced.
Follow your lists
Big businesses operate like a well-oiled machine. They keep stock inventory, and document their transactions exceptionally well. They don’t do it because it’s required of them; they do it because it helps them keep track of their company and measure profitability. As a small business, you should be doing the same. It’s something that’s rather easy to do, and doesn’t take much effort. As a small business owner, you might be charged to operate many parts of the company. Keeping checklists and to-do lists help you stay focused and on-track.
Network
Let’s be honest, sales are made through the relationships you make with people. Every person that comes in contact with your company gives you an opportunity to increase your business by one person. That’s why it’s essential to make an excellent first impression, and focus on quality over quantity. Put an emphasis on the connection between you and your customer. If you have dealings with 100 people in a given day, more than likely some are going to be rushed, others might be angry or experiencing a crisis in their personal lives. While every interaction can’t be ideal, make the best of it. Give people reasons to come back.
Lead the industry
This is a suggestion that seems like it might be too much, or too vague at first. So lets break it down. Larger companies make their name by leading their industry. They are active in the marketplace while others struggle. But there are two separate ways to become a leader.
The first way is to physically lead the industry. Other companies look up to you, and you provide a product or service that everyone wants and uses. Or, you can put yourself in a position to do something that nobody else does.
What does your company do? Is anyone else trying to accomplish the same thing? If not, there is a huge opportunity for growth. For example, if every restaurant only sold hamburgers, be the first to offer french fries with the burger. It might be a bold or an expensive change. The companies that take calculated risks and look for solutions to small problems like stagnation or market saturation are the ones that grow. You don’t have to be on the forefront of an industry to lead it.
With the extra cash flow you earn from executing these small business growth strategies, you might want to investigate an expansion into a pre-engineered metal commercial building. From there, you can continue to grow at your own pace.
Photo courtesy: PublicDomainPictures
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