Posts

Three Reliable Strategies to Help Your Growing Business Up Its Game

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Growing your Business|Three Reliable Strategies to Help Your Growing Business Up Its GameOnce you’ve got your startup off the ground, your next exciting phase is all about growth and development. And it can be a steep learning curve! To establish your company as a leader in your field and beyond, you need to be able to stay stable through periods of explosive growth, even if your resources are stretched. Many companies hit a speed-wobble once the demand gets too high. Unless you can keep calm and carry on, your growing business may never reach its full potential.

So how do you ensure sure that your startup takes growth—and the many challenges that growth brings—in its stride? Putting into place these strategies could help you keep up with demand without sacrificing quality… or sanity!

Get Your IT Sorted Once And For All

One of the top challenges for emerging companies is trying to meet higher demand with limited IT capability. Once your business is on its way, it makes sense to use your incoming capital to iron out all the hitches in your IT department once and for all. Purchase specialized or purpose-built programs to make your life easier. Everything from HR to payroll can be greatly simplified with the right software for the job. Likewise, where hardware is concerned, now is the time to invest in optimizing things like your Cabling System and building access system.

As is often the case in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to IT services. Expensive custom-builds can be hard to justify before your business has peaked, but paying a little extra now is likely to pay off down the line, as you’ll end up with the perfect software solution, not just for the present moment, but to meet the additional demand as your business grows.

Take The Lead in Customer Service

Maintaining top standards in terms of service is essential to your ability to keep attracting and retaining new customers as demand goes up. Whether it’s through intensive training or technological enhancements, delivering an unmatched customer experience at every step of your customer journey will make it more likely that your business customer base will not only continue to expand, but also grow more loyal. Repeat business is the bread-and-butter of many businesses in the small to medium-sized bracket, so treating your customers like royalty is a sure-fire way to keep your ship stable when the storm clouds gather and the waves get a little choppy.

Nail Down Your Brand Voice

Once your company starts to grow and your brand gets more exposure, this is a crucial time to invest in the voice of your brand. You can do this in-house, but you may get a better result if you get professional help. Find a copywriter who can demonstrate that they ‘get’ what your brand is all about, and get them to help you distill and clarify what your business sounds like—how you talk to your customers, pitch your ideas, and even speak amongst yourselves within your organization. A skilled copywriter will produce a “Brand Bible” for you to distribute among your team, ensuring that all internal and external communications (from website copy to client emails and social media posts) are in line with your brand values, and how you see yourselves as an organization. Having a cohesive brand voice is crucial to building rapport with your audience and fostering trust in your brand.

Whether you employ two people or two hundred, dealing with growth can be a huge challenge. These tips will help you embrace change and deal with whatever the market throws at you.

Need A Little More Oomph? Here’s How You Can Add That Extra Something To Your Business

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Growth|Need A Little More Oomph? Here’s How You Can Add That Extra Something To Your BusinessWhen you first come up with your business idea, your mind is completely and utter driven. You might not be at the peak of your motivation and productivity, but the excitement and invigoration have your mind racing at a rate of knots. With all of the potential ahead of you, all you can then think of is the number of different opportunities and avenues that are out there.

When things start to get a little more up and running, that’s when you have even more energy and bite. You actually see your work pay off in terms of output and income, so you and your partners/employees are functioning more than speedily! The motivation that comes from actually seeing results is like no other: not only does it make you feel as though you’ve gotten over the line, but it also makes you want even more. It’s quite an addictive feeling.

But, like with the majority of things in life, your work can go a little stale. The honeymoon period can wear off, and the motivation can drop off a little. It’s frustrating, but it’s completely normal – every single person on the planet drops off at one time or another. You can’t be expected to maintain the same level forever. Even the highest performers in all sectors and fields do it. It’s especially common in environments that have the same kind of work over and over again. Human beings need a little variety in their lives or a bit of extra stimulation. If they aren’t being presented with any, then things can plateau or decline slightly.

When you’re trying to run a successful business, how can you deal with the slight wane? If you’ve never encountered this kind of adversity before, then it might seem like a massive issue. There are things you can do to boost things a little, though. Whether it’s for yourself, your team, or the business as a whole; oomph can be added! If you’re in any way interested in knowing what we’re talking about, then have a little read of the following points. Some of them may jog your memory and give you a few more ideas!

Have Frequent Training Programs

In order to keep things fresh and keep brains constantly developing, you might need to break the monotony a little bit. One of the best ways to do this is by having training days every now and again. This will obviously benefit all of the staff because they’ll pick up new ideas and abilities during and after. If they’re constantly stuck in a mundane environment where they’re not challenged by fresh stimuli, then it’ll be likely that they’ll slow down a little.

The overall mood in the camp will also be boosted as a training day makes everyone feel a little better. They’re no longer stuck in the intense and pressurized working environment. Instead, they’re moved to a new area and given different tasks that are often fused with some kind of entertainment. It’s like being back in school again after all these years – minus the social pressure, and with more of a laid back approach.

Get Some Investment

This sounds like a pretty obvious point because every single business could do with this kind of assistance. Most of the time, in order to make more money, you need to spend more money. Having that extra capital can make such a massive difference to every tangible and intangible aspect of your business. If you can conjure up a wonderful plan and pitch, and convince people out there that what you’re doing is going to work, then you could be in for a huge hike. Angel investors are usually sniffing around for the next best business to invest in. Banks are also there for you to work with.

Work With A Digital Marketing Group

In this day and age, if you want to be able to make as much money as possible, you need to be able to have that smart online touch. It’s obviously not a mandatory part of your venture, but it can be the difference between a prosperous year and an average one. Marketing agencies have always been around, but in the past decade or so, digital marketing firms, like Thunderhawk SEO, have been popping up all over the world.

Whether you need some help with search engine optimization, or you need a group to help you expand your reach online, these particular companies will be able to show you the way and guide you through everything. Having that experience and know-how behind you can really boost business and revitalize your approach to certain areas.

Do Something About The Environment

Changing around the workplace can really stimulate the employees. If they are underperforming at any time, then playing with the office, warehouse, or factory might help a little. Your workplace and the stations within it will probably get a little messy or unorganized at some point. Perhaps getting everyone to spend a little while sorting things out could help. Obviously, you’ll want everything to be kept clean as nobody likes working in a murky area.

In terms of large and significant changes, you could revamp and redo the entire workplace. A refreshing feel around could get the staff to put their thinking caps back on. What about the idea of moving completely? If that’s plausible and feasible, then perhaps it’s something you could seriously consider.

Purchase Better Equipment And Software

Manual work is obviously a wonderful part of life, but it’s not without its flaws. Human error is absolutely inevitable; it happens all of the time; it will happen millions of times in the future. In order to work speedier and with fewer errors, you might want to think about using technology! There are so many programs and pieces of software that can help us work more efficiently.

If you’re working in a warehouse or factory environment with lots of different pieces of equipment, then improving on what you already have would make such a massive difference to the overall output.

6 Ways To Create Exceptional Content In Your Business

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, 6 Ways To Create Exceptional Content In Your BusinessContent is king in today’s digital age, and every brand needs to consider ways in which they can make exceptional content that will help them to stand out from the crowd and impress their target customer. This is easier said than done, particularly in a time where every company is creating a steady stream of content, but there are a few ways that you can make sure that all of your content is of the highest standard. Many brands make the mistake of believing that it is a case of quantity over quality, but you need to make sure that your content is engaging, valuable, and entertaining.

1. Consider Your Target Audience

You should always keep your target audience in mind when creating any kind of content. Consider what the audience’s wants, needs, and interests are and find ways to solve common problems that they might face in their life. The content should be thought-provoking while providing them with helpful knowledge.

2. Create Original Content

A lot of businesses simply steal ideas from their competitors and rework it, but this will not achieve the desired results and could negatively impact your SEO. Instead, try to come up with original ideas for your content, which will stand out from the crowd.

3. Use A Variety Of Media

People are bombarded with text and image content consistently throughout the day. While this is still a worthwhile form of content, you also need to make sure that you are looking into other forms of media to engage your target audience. Video is the most effective as this is highly engaging and can make it easy for you to communicate your desired message. You need to make sure that you are producing high-quality films with cameras from Choosist.com and professional-standard video editing software.

4. Create Strong Headlines

You will never get hits or communicate your message to your target audience without a strong headline. The headline should catch their attention, evoke emotion, and make them want to know more. Take time when crafting a headline and try a few different options until you find one which will engage the audience.

5. Keep It Concise

People these days have a short attention span, so you need to keep all content concise, pointed, and valuable. Eliminate all fluff and get to the point quickly. People will not spend their time skimming through an enormous blog post when they are looking for information.

6. Add Personality

Nobody wants to consume content which is bland and faceless. Try to get your personality across in the content, whether this is by using humor, sharing a personal story, and/or by using the first-person language. Although you should get your personality across, you must avoid being informal and unprofessional and never post anything which could be divisive or considered offensive.

Most businesses understand the importance of creating content, yet not many know how to create exceptional content that will get them noticed. The above are a few strategies to try and should deliver immediate results and help you to engage your target audience.

7. Hire a Content Writer

As a business owner, you will soon find yourself on the hamster wheel of content creation. Although you may be able to handle this task for a certain amount of time, you may want to outsource it to a professional who can get you the results you’re looking for. With managed marketing solutions you can seek help with content marketing and social media solutions, so that you can put more time and focus into other areas of your business. Expanding your horizons when it comes to creating content will drive more traffic to your business and will help you to build your credentials as an industry leader more quickly.