Business Growth 2022 // 6 Ways To Take Your Business From Good to Great

Business growth cannot be an overnight success and there is no sure way formula for instant success that you can use to boost your business’s growth in a short period.

Business growth takes hard work, resilience, and an unwavering dedication to improvement that needs to be renewed every single day.

Growth is an ongoing process that requires hard work, patience and dedication. There’s no special step or secret way to surpass other businesses in the industry or achieve immediate success.

There are, however, proven ways to reach growth milestones that can catapult a business to success.

To create a great business, you must have the desire and the passion to do whatever it takes. Regardless of the current size of your business, it’s best to plan and structure so that you’re ready for the future.

When it comes to growing your  business, a little proactivity will pay off in the long run. Here are some tips on how to grow your business this year to greater levels.

Live beyond your business.

With in-person events coming back to life after the Pandemic, spend your time building your network, it’s not about what you know but who you know. 

Once in a while get away from your business and go out and experience new art, new technology, new music and new sociability. 

Meet new people and create new relationships. Get out and experience what’s happening beyond the walls of your business. When you do, you will help your business be a larger part of today.

Networking is a way to make connections with others and encourage them to refer customers through word of mouth.

A great place to start off this year could be with the Centonomy Open Day set for January, 15th Saturday, where you will be equipped with practical tips on how to invest, build your business and grow your career. 

The event will be facilitated by Waithaka Gatumia, CEO Centonomy, Waceke Nduati, Founder Centonomy and Mwenesi Musalia Image & Soft Skills Coach. You can RSVP for the event here

Also look out for upcoming Nairobi Garage networking events such as the Workshops, MEET and The After Office Hours event that is hosted on the last Thursday of every month.

You can also opt to host your own event for customers to meet you and build relationships. Invite your customers to attend and encourage them all to invite their friends 

Be Intentional with Growth

Sometimes business growth takes you by surprise; sales suddenly increase or an unexpected opportunity falls into your lap. 

In these cases, you’ll find yourself scrambling in a stressful game of catch-up. But expansion can be carefully considered and planned for. 

By taking a slow-and-steady approach and planning ahead for each step along the road, you’ll set your business up for successful proactive growth, instead of a stressful reactive response to an immediate need.

Focus on your core strength

What is the one thing you bring to the table that others do not? Keep your focus on that. If as a business person, you are good at marketing or building and managing your company’s system, concentrate on that and drive all your energy to it even better.

In most cases business owners want to be involved in all the business aspects which is an effort that ends up draining you.

As many things as you may feel like you should/could/would do in a perfect world (where time was unlimited and sleep was not required), what you NEED to do is keep improving your product and making it better and better and better. Hire or purchase other solutions, staff, and expertise to take care of the rest.

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Be financially savvy

If there is anything that the Pandemic has taught us is to be more financially savvy. Even the most successful businesses need to watch the bottom line. 

Always leave extra padding in your budget for things that you overlooked or didn’t account for in your expansion. 

Even small things can derail your budget. Keep your eyes on the bigger picture AND the bottom line. 

Ensure your investments make sense for your dreams AND your bank account, and always overestimate the projected costs to ensure you don’t end up in a tight spot later on.

Invest in staff and culture

Go ahead and invest in staff and company culture. Growing beyond solopreneur ship is a big step. 

But if you talk to others who have grown their small business to include employees, contractors or freelancers you’ll soon learn just how vital the right people are in making your expansion dreams a reality.

Any significant staff expansion will come with an adjustment period and require devotion and effort from everyone, but establishing a culture and a staff of devoted employees will pay off in the long run.

Invest in systems

You’re a badass at this whole business ownership thing. We already know that. But if you’re trying to do everything on your own, you might be limiting yourself for potential growth. 

A business powered by systems is one that can handle the multi-layered demands of expansion.

Having robust systems such as a solid CRM or powerful e-commerce software in place can help you focus on the important parts of growth and expansion.

Focus on analytics

As a report in The Economist notes, “the world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.” The good news is that data can benefit any company, unlike oil. Even better, you don’t have to splurge billions of dollars (though some companies are). 

As a business owner with a website and social media pages, you can employ free or freemium tools to gain insights on your customers.

The big data analytics market will surpass $200 billion per year by 2020. Clearly, many companies, especially tech giants like Facebook and Amazon, realize the value of utilizing data. And you should, too.

For instance, Google Analytics shows bounce rate, page visits, average time on site, and how your audience is arriving at your website, which can provide insights into where to focus your marketing efforts. 

Unbounce is another analytics tool worth considering, especially for figuring out how to optimize landing pages and increase conversions.

In conclusion, building a business today goes beyond reason, what you do and why you do it.  It is passion driven. 

The way around it is to marry enthusiasm to your work. The people behind great businesses are the ones who take each day, each project and each endeavor by the proverbial horns.

The potential for business greatness sits on a tray of half-filled glasses, and success comes from believing you can fill them the rest of the way to the top.