Over the years, from being educated by the school of hard knocks, I’ve come to realized that there are 6 crucial traits that a business needs in order for it to grow. I share them with you today so that you can hopefully add a few years of quality life back into your own, and can look forward to growing the business that you worked so hard for.
1) Your business needs influx of new customers in order to grow your business and for you to have enough funds to re-invest in your business. You will be able to re-invest in your business and grow it if you have new customers. Mind you, your customers’ needs comes first. That goes without saying, you can’t have cash flow if your customers are unhappy with your product or service.
2) You need to keep your existing customers. As the old saying goes, it’s easier to keep an existing customer happy than to find new ones. This is very true–not only will your existing customers keep doing business with you, they will refer new customers to you. You need to grow with your existing customers or they will leave you for greener pastures (even when it’s not actually greener on the other side, but only perceives to be). Communication is key, and you must, must keep an open dialouge and don’t’ be afraid to ask: “What can I do to help make life easier for you?” (or some version of that … because in the end, that’s what your customers want–to solve a problem or make it easier for them to do business with you). Don’t take them for granted, because by the time you start asking questions, it might be too late.
3) Your product or service has to be needed in the marketplace. Without demand for your goods or services, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is or how wonderful it makes you feel. Your goods/services have to fill a purpose; a need that cannot be gotten elsewhere. And not only that, it also has to make your customers feel that they cannot get it anywhere else (a sort of, “you had them at hello”, so to speak).
4) You need to work with your vendors and other strategic partnerships that are in your up-line and down-line. This means collaborating with any other businesses that are in the similar category as yours so that you can help each other find and keep customers by serving their needs as well yours. Your up-line or down-line are not your competitors–they are businesses that complement yours.
5) You need to have a plan: a plan to grow your business, step by step. As the old saying goes, if you don’t plan, then you plan to fail. I cannot stress to you enough how many businesses falter at with this trait due to being too busy working in their business. Now, don’t roll your eyes at me, I know you’re doing it, because I did that once too, and we suffered for it. It doesn’t have to be complex or even pretty, but you need one that you can refer to. Your plan is your map that will guide you and your company to your goals, especially during tough times.
6) Be Flexible . Okay, so I said you have to have a plan, and it sounds like I just contradicted myself by telling you to be flexible. The most flexible person always wins. You need to have enough flexibility to see which aspect of your plan needs tweaking and refining. It does not mean, that you change your plan, weekly, monthly or even annually. The goal is to be able to ride the roller coaster that comes along with any business so that you don’t snap because your plan is too rigid.
With more than 20 years retail/wholesale & e-commerce experience, Shirley Tan educates eCommerce business owners to be profitable while maintaining their sanity!
