All well-established companies started out as small firms. Somewhere along the way, though, the management made decisions that allowed them to rapidly scale their businesses to get to where they are now. It leaves the obvious question, is there a way you can replicate that success?
They are things you should keep in mind as you start on your journey to take your company to new heights. Let’s get started.
1. Let Data Drive Your Decisions
The success or failure of your business will depend on the decisions you make. We are lucky to be living in a world that is drowning in data. Every action you take online can be tracked. This makes it easier to understand your customers, what they want, and what motivates them. Let’s take Amazon as an example.
Amazon has invested heavily in data mining. The company has a database of 150 million customers. It analyzes the buying history and the way people use its site to suggest products to purchase. This investment in big data has helped make it one of the most valuable technology companies in the US, with sales averaging $10,000 a second.
While you are unlikely to have access to the same level of data as Amazon, you are still in a position to make data-driven decisions. This starts with implementing data-based decision-making processes at your company.
By utilizing the data you have available, you can make informed business decisions. I’m not saying you will never make a mistake if your decisions are based on evidence. I’m just saying if you base them on hard data, the chances of you committing a mistake are greatly reduced.
2. Ask For Help When You Need It
Many people view asking for help as a sign of weakness. So when they find themselves in a bind, on their own, they try to find ways to get out of the situation.
If you can get out of the bind on your own, well and good. But if you can’t, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. When you ask someone to give you a hand, after all, you’re basically just acknowledging the universal truth that you, like all other humans, are not all-knowing and perfect. That’s humility on your part, not weakness.
Just take a look at the most successful entrepreneurs. At one point in their lives, they involved someone in their journey towards entrepreneurial success. For example, it’s no secret that Steve Jobs asked Microsoft’s Bill Gates to invest in Apple when the company was losing millions of dollars. Jobs publicly thanked his erstwhile tech rival for investing $150 million in an interview with Time magazine in 1997: “Bill, thank you. The world’s a better place,” Jobs had said.
The bottom line is, in order to succeed as an entrepreneur, you should understand your vision of the company is important above all else.
3. Don’t Try to Cut Corners
You have to understand that there’s no easy path to success, which is why it can be tempting to try to cut corners. Don’t make that mistake.
Every action you take will have repercussions on your business down the road.
Source: Giphy
If you cut corners to reach your business goals, chances are you will compromise your values, ethics, and the integrity of your business. Many of the world’s business scandals were caused by ambitious managers and CEOs who tried to cut corners.
Take Nissan. They made the headlines in December 2019 after Nissan was accused of underreporting its profits to the Japanese government. In the end, Nissan had to pay a $22-million fine, an amount the company has since been trying to recover from one of its erring executives through a civil suit.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m not saying it’s wrong to be ambitious. What I’m saying is, there’s really no substitute for hard work.
4. Keep Processes Simple
In general, the simpler, the better. Let’s take an example. Which would you rather buy? Separate social media management platforms for each of your personal Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram accounts? Or one platform that allows you to manage all three accounts at the same time? I’m pretty sure you’d pick the second option.
The rationale behind your decision is simple: With the second option, you wouldn’t have to spend so much time managing your social media accounts. Your thought process is basically this: complexity sucks time.
This holds true in business, too. You should set out clear Standard Operating Procedures for your company. It’s important that everyone in your company is aware of these goals. Use tools to help you manage your projects. There’s a great guide on how to create your business targets here.
If you manage to save time that you can use to do other important things for your company, you’re basically on the right track. So rather than manually create a company website landing page, and then ask a developer to realize your artistic vision, why not simplify the process and use the best landing page builder directly instead? Use an email marketing automation tool, too, instead of sending your sales emails one by one. In fact, here is a list of great productivity tools.
The good news is, many business processes have been pretty much simplified by technology. It’s just a matter of looking for that tool that’s the right fit for you and your business.
5. Focus on Your Customers
This is actually a no-brainer. Consider this. A business becomes successful when it has managed to create a loyal customer base and continuously acquires new customers. This is only possible if the company and its products or services are something that consumers like. In short, for a business to succeed, it needs to continuously focus on consumer preferences and the consumers themselves.
Thanks to the Internet, businesses can easily monitor feedback about their products and services so they can make those adjustments to their products or services accordingly. You can also easily engage with customers.
Social media, for instance, is a goldmine of information and a powerful venue for customer engagement. You can also check review sites where consumers rate their recent purchases, and make comments there to make people know you’re listening to them.
The bottom line is this: If you focus on the consumers and on what they want, they will focus on you and your company.
6. Take Care of Your Employees
Consumers are not the only people you should focus on if you want to rapidly scale your business. Employees are, after all, also a big part of the success (or downfall) of a company. If your employees are productive, your business can easily grow. If they are, however, inefficient, your business might just end up losing revenues.
Generally speaking, employees are productive if they have high morale.
People have high morale in the workplace if they are treated with respect by their bosses. If they feel like the company they work for cares about them, they are more likely to reciprocate and deliver.
This is not to say, however, that you should allow your employees to do whatever they want. The point is to look for that balance. For example, you can use a time clock app to make sure your employees are working when they’re supposed to be working.
7. Subscribe to the Notion that Time Is Gold
Finally, make those seconds count. The best time to start growing your company is always today. Procrastination never gets anyone anywhere, and that holds all the more true in business.
Just imagine this. If you put off negotiations with another company for the manufacturing of a product, then some other firm might just clinch what could have been a big deal for your company.
It’s always good to remember how important time is for the success of your business. You want to speed up your sales cycle.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying you should work all the time at the expense of your personal relationships. It’s important to maintain that work-life balance, of course.
Wrapping Up
It’s hard to run, let alone grow, a business. Successful entrepreneurs will tell you they had to make sacrifices to get to where they are now. In short, they will tell you; theirs was not a walk in the park.
But don’t let the difficulties intimidate you. Making your business success is not impossible. Just adopt their philosophy and attitude and focus on those big and little details. And with hard work and perseverance, there’s no reason your business can’t secure long-term success.