There are a lot of things that keep small business owners up at night, and one of those fears is growth. Growing a business beyond the capabilities of one individual can seem impossible and more 70% of small businesses consist of only one person: the business owner.
Growth requires new skills, more work, and potentially other employees or partners. At QuickBooks, we recognize how exciting and stressful business growth can be. We spoke to some small business owners to ask for their advice about ways to grow your business.
The community had a ton of really helpful tips around managing your time and money, as well as tips for collaborating and finding a work-life balance.
Check out these five tips on how to grow your business:
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1. Manage your business
Are you just starting to focus on growing your business? If you’re considering bringing on new clients and potential new employees, make sure you’re recording your business processes now to make it easier to repeat them or train someone else to do it when you’re able to.
Tammy Durden from Tammy’s Office Solutions recognizes how easy it is to overlook processes necessary to running your business when you’re the only one doing them. Tammy mentions, “As the business grows it will become much more difficult to find the time to go back to recreate it all,” so, begin recording your processes today.
- Manage money better by understanding profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements
- Learn what business-related expenses can be deducted at tax time
- Formally outline responsibilities in proposals and contracts
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2. Market your services
Marketing your business well is key to gaining new projects and clients. A professional website and maintaining social media profiles that make sense for your community are two highly recommended options. Liz Froment from Location Rebel claims that a professional website is “the lifeblood of your business.” Patrick McGinnis also understands the importance of a logo and states, “in many lines of business, image is everything.” Patrick recommends easy-to-use sites like 99design to help your business and website look professional.
Social media is not just for the kids either. Livia Stancu from StorageCraft recommends making your posts more interesting for your community and says, “adding images to your posts is one way to drive more traffic and engagement.” Violette de Ayala from FemCity recommends connecting with others in your industry on social media; she prefers Facebook Groups. Violette shares, “with privacy settings, we are able to connect and collaborate daily on sharing information, tips and updates.”
- Invest in high-quality photos to share on your website and social channels
- Attend networking events online and in your community
- Create and share meaningful content
- Publish a professional website
- Invest in search engine optimization to increase traffic to your site
- Utilize a CRM platform to bring in qualified business leads
- Implement email marketing campaigns to stay connected with current and potential clients
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3. Manage your time
An important time management takeaway that will have a trickledown effect on all areas of your life comes from Jeanna Gabellini from MasterPeace Coaching, who believes in practicing habits that will increase abundance in your life and business, and dropping habits that do neither. Jeanna says, “Your frame of mind and personality will dictate what is best for you at this moment. I like to incorporate both small and big habits when I want to increase my abundance.”
- Integrate your calendar with your colleagues and clients
- Track time spent on projects
- Eliminate repetitive tasks by hiring a virtual assistant
- Schedule social shares with social media automation programs
- Block specific distracting websites
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4. Stay healthy
- Take time off and unplug to give your mind a break
- Surround yourself with a supportive network
- Create a positive, motivating environment in your home
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5. Collaborate with others
- Cut back on emails with real-time messaging
- Substitute client travel with video conferencing software
- Share files with your team or clients from anywhere
For more information, check out this guide on how to structure your business for success.
This article originally appeared on the Quickbooks Resource Center and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.
