Accelerate: Grow And Scale A Business
The Acceleration Story
Have you built a successful small business and now want to scale and grow? If so, what’s holding you back? The chances are your business is successful because of YOU, and there’s only one of YOU to go round! Have you ever thought “If I could only have another me then my business would grow as I planned”. But of course, there I only one YOU, and as much as a clone would be nice, it’s not the answer.
To successfully grow and expand your business you need a scalable business model. That model has to rely on processes, not people. Of course people – your staff and contractors – are critical to your success, but the key to scaling and growing your business relies on having a solid foundation so you can get the best out of the people who help you achieve your goals.
If everyone spends their entire day firefighting, they’ll get stressed out living in a cycle of panic knee jerk reactions just to keep thinks running.
If you continue to take on new customers and the extra workload that entails, eventually the final straw will break the camel’s back, and things will start to fall apart. You’ll let your customers down and things will quickly go from bad to worse!
But it doesn’t have to be that way. By building a solid foundation based on a scalable business model that relies on proven streamlined processes, it becomes easy to scale and grow your business. New customers need not equate to lots more work, longer hours, and extra stress. In fact, with the right systems and processes in place growing your business becomes fun, exciting – and highly profitable.
Step 7. Delighting Your Customers
Word of mouth is the ultimate form of marketing and your customers will talk about the way you’ve treated them. If you’ve gone the extra mile and delighted them, they will sing your praises. This equates to positive word of mouth and must be your ultimate marketing goal.
If you’ve let them down, if they’re even slightly disappointed then the bad news will get out. This equates to negative word of mouth and is your worst enemy if you want to grow your business.
So how do you delight your customers without giving away too much?
Simply by delivering on your promise – and then just a little extra. It could be an unexpected follow up call to make sure they are happy, or a free bonus of some kind to let them know you appreciate them. Whatever you decide, the mere fact that you have bothered to thank them will make you stand out from the crowd.
And the easiest way to do it is to have a system in place to make sure every customer feels you’ve gone the extra mile.
Step 8. Repeat Buying
Keeping your customers happy has a direct effect on your bottom line. Research shows that it costs up to 20 times more to acquire a new customer than servicing existing customers and asking for repeat business. And let’s not forget, your existing customers already trust you and will have a lot lower resistance to parting with their hard-earned cash.
Most businesses have an opportunity to sell more to their existing customers. Perhaps your product or service is a consumable they may consume on a regular basis. Maybe you have additional products or services that will help them further enhance their journey. Whatever you provide always look for ways to add more value to maximise their experience and the lifetime value to your business.
If you know your customers well, you’ll know the frequency of regular purchases, or the next step they need to take in their journey. Having systems in place to keep in touch and keep you front of your customers mind is an easy and effective way to build your brand and hence your business.
Step 9. Scaling and Expanding
Scaling and growing a small business does not have to be a daunting task. With the right systems and processes in place it becomes easy to service a lot more customers without a massive increase in your costs.
This allows you and your team to focus on serving your customers and making sure you do everything you possibly can to generate that all important word of mouth.
Whatever your expansion plans, your success relies on being able to respond to your customers wants and needs. Ever closer relationships with your customers gives you a huge competitive advantage because your they will tell you what they want. Your job is to listen and to develop new products and services to give them what they ask for.
With the right systems and processes in place you not only have the means, but also the time to listen and respond to your customers requests. This is a sure way to build and grow your business in a sustainable and controlled manner without breaking into a sweat.
What plans do you have to scale and grow?
Many small business owners have a vision of where they want to be, but are unsure of how to get there. It requires a strategy - and a plan to implement it. If you want to really seize your opportunities and turn them into reality, one call is all it takes.
It could make all the difference!
Are you ready to take your business to the next level?
If generating a consistent supply of quality leads is holding your business back, then a short discovery call may give you the insights you've been looking for.
