Business growth is always a priority
You land a few clients or customers (or more) and realize your service or product has value and potential. What’s the next step? No matter where you are in the process, business growth is always a challenge.
In 2009 I finished grad school. It was the Great Recession and there were zero jobs available. So I started an S-Corp for professional services. My first clients came from networking. My strategy was to connect with government organizations that didn’t have enough resources for a marketing team, and some small businesses that were still operating. I didn’t involve a clever social presence or website. In fact, I still do a terrible job of marketing myself, but that’s another story. I reached out to people and established myself while holding back fears and doubts about my networking skills. (Who doesn’t?)
Furthermore, I quickly learned I couldn’t rely on just one or two clients. As a result, I upped my outreach by launching a website, asking for referrals and spreading the word where I could; at networking events, online and face to face.
Most of all, no matter which tactics you employ, growing the business will most likely always be top of mind. It helps to begin with a goal in mind, a few objectives and a strategy. You will always be asking, “How can I get more clients or customers?
Let’s grow your business
First of all, this blog from a few years back has some great tips. Called 27 Low-Cost Ways To Grow Your Business, it has practical suggestions and a lot of them are the same I recommend to students and clients. If you need some more ideas, visit Marketing Resources and 5 strategies to start and grow a successful business with only $200.
In addition, the SBA is a great resource and here’s an article to get you started: 10 Tips to Help You Build and Grow a Stand-Out Small Business Brand thinking about whether your brand is ready for growth.
Finally, Reddit is another excellent resource – visit some of the subreddits: /r/entrepreneur, /r/growmybusiness and /r/startups
Buena suerte.
