When it comes to business development, especially for what concerns smaller companies or startups, the scaling process can be difficult and time consuming. This is especially the case if done in a new business field or if done without having fixed objectives and checkpoints.
It’s important to understand that, generally, the growth process which leads a small business to a “medium” stage, in terms of development and revenue, is usually the hardest one. Given the fact that this usually combines a variety of management issues/strategies that should be combined with a proper architectural strategy. Let’s analyse a couple of strategies which should help in crafting a great growth process for a small business.
Multi-Channel Growth
Many companies, especially if still underneath the “startup cloak” spiral towards architectural development: they want, in fact, to optimise the product and they keep on forgetting about marketing, networking, brand awareness and everything that comes in between. The fact that this is generally done within the tech sphere should be a clear example of how dangerous focusing exclusively on development is.
In order to progress and come out of the startup sea, it’s important to gather genuine interest in your products by using a multi-channel growth funnelling process which is targeting both your brand awareness and the traffic on your portal(s). For example, having a proper ongoing SEO strategy, combined with a low budget Paid Social one will guarantee yourself both the organic traffic and brand awareness coming from such paid ads.
Investors and Shares
If your business is working within the tech sphere or has a product which could be interesting for investors, you could consider approaching a savvy person in order to achieve faster growth, especially given the fact that startup buying has become a considerable form of trading in the highest spheres of investment and has been considered as a market almost as prolific as the real estate one.
With this in mind, once you’ve been able to gather some attention around your products/company, by selling shares with the hypothetical investor, you should be able to get a considerable budget which will definitely help your growth plan(s).
Retailers, Drop Shipping Isn’t Dead (yet)
When it comes to retail, especially if online based, many are the ones who are blaming the fact that “the materials are incredibly expensive” and, therefore, they are not able to invest their already tight budget into marketing or sales. This was the exact same scenario that IKEA was living when they started way back in the days and is, at the same time, the reason why drop shipping should be everyone’s go-to strategy at the beginning, especially for online retailers.
By white labelling products, in fact, it will be possible to save the budget which is usually invested in production, which could be used for marketing and sales processes or other forms of development. Once again, if you’re completely online based, there are many guides available online on both Shopify and Oberlo, all pretty easy to understand and follow.
Management: A Big Quality That Many Forget About
Especially when applied to small businesses, a good manager/operation director should be the main thing you should invest into. First of all, because he will setup the entire process and second, most importantly, because having a leader with a tangible, solid plan is the most important thing for a small business who wants to quickly develop.
With this in mind, a manager should also have some previous experiences in running a company and not just managing it, given the fact that he will basically be the go-to person who will glue and fix every problem the future (or present) team may have.
To Conclude
Running a small business is extremely stressful, there’s no doubt about it. With these actionable strategies, though, finding the right way to progress from a small, dead-end vision to a bigger one should be easier.
Keep in mind that we’re all living in the internet era, and there’s no shame in consulting entrepreneurial blogs or even reddit to ask for help or advice. In fact, that’s the whole point behind being an entrepreneur, trial and error which will lead you to success.
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