Growing Your Business: How to Create SuccessYou have established your business as a worthy competitor in its field. You have a solid client base and your day-to-day operations are running seamlessly. With so much experience and success under your belt, you know it is time to look to the future and start growing your company. But how do you start? Which steps do you take? At The Skylight Group, we have some tried and true methods for growing your business to its full potential.
It’s All About Who You Know You may be surprised to learn that growing your business doesn’t start by looking at new, potential clients. Rather, we encourage you to begin with your existing clients. Talk to the clients with whom you have a great relationship (which is ideally all of them!) and get their feedback on your business. Is there something you’re not doing they would like to see? Is there something you’re doing that they love? Find out which practices or products are working and use those strategies with new clients as well. Another great way to work with your existing clients is to create a networking partnership. As a business owner, you have discovered that the best business is done with someone you know, instead of a faceless contact. This means you need to expand your network of professional contacts, which will in turn expand your business. Go to a client and ask them to give you five referrals to someone they think could benefit from your company’s services. In turn, give your client’s information to five of your contacts, giving both you and your client the opportunity to expand your network base. And networking isn’t only for your clients. If you have a friend or colleague whose services you want to recommend, ask them to recommend you as well. Work together to create an atmosphere where more connections lead to better business. Show Your Product to the World In the current technological climate, your choices for marketing options are seemingly endless. It’s important to dedicate time and effort toward staying on top of marketing trends and methods in order to make the most out of them to grow your business. For instance, is your company on any social media platforms? If not, it should be. You may not find a lot of use for Facebook or Twitter in your personal life, but that doesn’t mean your company won’t benefit. Social media is an easy and often low-cost way to reach millions of people at once with your message. Most platforms have tutorials and step-by-step instructions on how to get started, so don’t worry if you’re not a social media guru – you will be able to take your time and customize your social media account to reflect your company’s message and mission. Your website is another crucial component of your marketing strategy. When a client or potential client visits your website, is your message immediately clear? Is it obvious who your target demographic is for your services or product? You want to create a website that spells out the problem you solve or the need you meet in order to reach a larger audience As a competitor in your field, you also want to publish informational articles that your clients or potential clients can benefit from. Ultimately, you want to position yourself as the leading expert in your field, and a great way to accomplish this is to provide your clients with current and practical information that is relevant to their needs and shows that you are well-versed in various topics related to your company’s services. Take Your Company’s Pulse You may have been in business for six weeks or six years, but it’s always important to look for ways to improve both your practices and your product. Set a specific, regular time to review your company’s policies and strategies across the board – assess every department from Human Resources to Accounting to Information Management., Look for areas that you excel in and areas you need to modify. Try to be as objective as possible – this process only serves to benefit your business, and you will thank yourself for taking the extra time to go over each detail. If you’re not sure how or why a product is struggling, go to your greatest resource: Your team members! Your employees have the benefit of seeing daily operations, interacting with vendors, and seeing how your service is received and utilized in your client base. They will be able to give you practical, current feedback on ways to improve your product, as well as give their unique perspective as a salesman, attorney, and many other roles. Ask yourself and your team questions about your product: Is it still relevant? Would you purchase this service for yourself? Is your product the very best version of itself, or can you improve it for your customers? The answers to these questions will serve as a guide to which areas in your review need the most attention. Once you have completed your review, it’s time to act on it. If you see a product or service is struggling, or that it seems irrelevant to your current clients, you need to make a change. This may mean updating a product with newer technology; it may mean that you cease production of that item. Every situation will be unique, but the one constant among all of them is that you have to take action if you want your company to grow. Don’t let an irrelevant product or outdated service bring your business down. We know you want your business to be the best – and we want to help it grow. Reach out to us at (317) 416-4369 to discover the incredible opportunities waiting for your company. Lynn Driver The Skylight Group Lynn’s Tips to Business
Always remember, there is some your high school or college student that is already planning their business that could put you out of business.
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 New business owners have numerous goals when they're starting out, including rapid growth and recognition for their fledgling venture. But overnight success isn't often the standard: There's no specific "special sauce" to add to the recipe for instant results, and nothing is guaranteed.
However, there are ways to reach growth milestones that can catapult a business to success. Growing a business face’s, a range of challenges. As a business grows, different problems and opportunities demand different solutions – what worked a year ago might not be the best approach. All too often, avoidable mistakes turn what could have been a great business into a nightmare. Recognizing and overcoming the common pitfalls associated with growth is essential if your business is to continue to grow and thrive. Every business owner needs to ensure that the steps you take today don’t themselves create additional problems for the future. Effective leadership will help you make the most of the opportunities, creating sustainable growth for the future. The plan that made sense for you a year ago isn’t necessarily right for you now. Market conditions continually change, so you need to revisit and update your strategic plan regularly. As your business grows, your strategy needs to evolve to suit your changed circumstances. For example, your focus is likely to change from winning new customers to building profitable relationships and maximizing growth with existing customers. Existing business relationships often have greater potential for profit and can also provide reliable cash flow. Always take advantage of potential clients your existing customers may be able to refer to you. When was the last time you met with your clients to discuss how you might be able to refer to each other? This should be done on a regular basis. All things in business can and will frequently change. I think you will find that many of your best referrals will come from your contacts and current clients. At the same time, every business needs to be alert to new opportunities. There are obvious risks to relying solely on existing customers. Diversifying your customer base spreads those risks. Following the same business model, but bigger, is not the only route to growth. There are other strategic options such as outsourcing or franchising that might provide better growth opportunities. It’s important not to assume that your current success means that you will automatically be able to take advantage of these opportunities. Every major move need’s planning in the same way as a new business launch. Watch out for being too opportunistic – ask yourself whether new ideas suit your strengths and your overall vision of where the vision is going. Bear in mind that every new development brings with it changing risks. It’s worth regularly reviewing the risks you face and developing contingency plans. I am a big believer in strategic planning. Too many leaders “have it in their head”. I strongly urge you if you do not do annual strategic planning, start planning now for 2019. It has been clearly documented and proven that those that plan and have it on paper with metrics, timelines, financial support and the right people have a much greater success than those that don’t. So, if you don’t have it on paper, let’s talk. Lynn Driver The Skylight Group |
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