Whether you are opening your first company or are a seasoned entrepreneur, every owner wants his or her company to grow and succeed. It can be so easy getting caught up in the day-to-day tasks at work that you forget to take time to pause and reflect. You need these moments to determine what your business needs to add or change in order to grow. If you need some ideas, utilize resources in these five areas to help your company flourish.
1. Marketing
Small business marketing is essential to increase your bottom line. Without a strategic marketing plan, it is extremely difficult to get the word out about your products and services to consumers. Additionally, if you are not carefully tracking the performance of your marketing campaigns, it is near impossible to know which ones are successful and which are not. Maybe word of mouth has gotten you to where you are, but you need additional marketing channels to grow the company.
Consider investing in marketing tools, such as a customer relationship management system or a digital marketing platform, to create and track your company’s campaigns. Social media, Google Analytics and print media are all different channels to expand your exposure. If you struggle to grasp all the ins and outs of marketing, consider hiring an outside company to analyze and revamp your campaigns.
2. Public relations
Your public relations department is critical to the growth of your business. If this team, which handles communication with the public sector, specifically the media, does not review its methods and best practices on a regular basis, there could be missed opportunities for growth.
If there is a new product you want to push, this product should be at the forefront of what the PR team is pushing to the media. One of the best ways to do this is to build a strong relationship with media outlets. PR employees should focus on networking and growing relationships with journalists and social media connections. A strong relationship with the media helps ensure visibility when you push an article their way.
3. Reporting
You can have the best people, tools and goods at your disposal, but if you are not continually tracking and evaluating performances, it is challenging to know what is working and where changes are needed. Make sure all departments have a tangible way of measuring success, be it a marketing campaign, customer satisfaction, employee performance or quality control.
Reports should be reviewed on a regular basis; how often looks different depending on the department. Additionally, the reporting process and metrics used should also be evaluated on a yearly basis, if not more often. Taking a step back to determine how the company is intaking and analyzing data gives managers a chance to catch inconsistencies and make updates for more accurate and detailed performance information.
4. Employees
Employees are one of the company’s most valuable assets. If you want people to work hard and develop a sense of loyalty to the company, treat everyone equally, reward hard work, set expectations, provide comprehensive benefits and compensate people fairly. The more you invest in your staff, the more likely they are to give 110%, which in turn helps your company grow.
5. Feedback
Feedback from staff and customers is incredibly valuable. This information tells you what processes, services and goods are valued and which ones need to be revisited.
Make sure all leaders have an open door policy. Regardless of the concern, employees should always feel comfortable coming to their direct reports for a discussion. Regular one-on-ones with leaders are a fantastic way to give staff members the opportunity for feedback.
Give customers the opportunity to provide feedback as well. The company’s contact information should be readily available on its website. Surveys, emails and social media posts are all excellent ways to encourage customers to give feedback on their experiences.
Business growth and increased revenue do not happen overnight. It requires planning and lots of hard work. Though it takes time, utilizing these five resources can help you take your business to the next level.
