Owning a business is hard work. You put a lot of time, money, sweat and tears to make sure that it is successful. But what happens when your business hits a wall and stops moving forward? Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to grow your business and transform it into a profitable venture.
Tip #1 – Set goals: You know where you want to be in three years’ time but how are you going to get there? What steps are you going to take to reach your objectives? Make sure you sit down to plan every bit of your business and make sure that your goals are realistic. If you visualize the journey, you will find that you reach your final destination much quicker. It is also important to be flexible along the way, if you don’t adapt to changes, you might face a lot of frustration when little things don’t work out. You can always come up with plan B or C.
Tip #2 – Social Media: Nothing is private nowadays, and we get all of our information from social media. Learn how to use it and get your name out there. Social media is a powerful tool that can make or break you, people rely heavily on reviews. Direct selling companies, for example, receive negative reviews from misinformed people and you’ll see headlines such as, “Does ACN Scam People?” even when they work with reputable companies like ACN Inc, but you can always use Social Media to your advantage and inform customers of your success stories.
Tip #3 – Keep Improving: Don’t stop learning, try to always make your product better or find ways to make your business processes more efficient. If you consistently keep on trying to make things better, your customers will definitely notice and keep on coming back for more. Don’t stand still, try to always move forward.
Tip #4 – Stay Passionate: You created your business for many reasons but one of them was that you felt passionate about a product or service that you wanted to share it with the world. Passion is contagious, so if your workers, suppliers, and customers see how much you love your product or service, they will take your lead and start feeling the same way. Once you stop feeling the passion, then it may be time to rethink your entire business or discover why it is decreasing because it will affect business.
Tip #5 – Check Out Your Competition: Don’t be afraid to analyze the competition, you could learn quite a bit from them. Find out what they are doing right and try to adapt it to your own business. We are not made successful business owners overnight and there is much to learn. Don’t be ashamed to look around and find out what everybody else is doing, you are sure to discover some fantastic ideas and might even inspire you.
Owning and running a business is a non-stop learning curve. You’ll have many ups but you’ll also have many downs. Make sure you keep at it, set clear goals, always look for ways to improve, use social media, stay passionate, and learn from your competitors. Success is not guaranteed as that is up to you and there are also many other factors that can affect your business, but these five tips will get you on the right track!
Daryl Green 
Barbara Ratliff