How to grow a small business in a more typical and mature industry is a question many small business owners are asking. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Grow Your Small Business through Reinvested Profits
Before you even start growing your operation, you need capital to support your growth. You can of course get that capital from a variety of sources: the bank, personal funds, reinvested profits, outside investors, invoice factoring and so on.
Growing through reinvested profits means, by definition, you are growing a profitable business. Be careful that you are reinvesting real, already earned profits and not anticipated profits. There is no need to make huge changes, slow incremental changes can work for you over time.
Grow with Right-Fit Clients and customers
Sure, more clients is good, but don’t ignore the importance of adding the right type of customers and clients.
You want to add customers who pay on time and don’t cause headaches. A high maintenance customer can end up costing you time and money. In that case, they really aren’t a profitable customer. Consider taking inventory of your clients and customers and define your “right-fit” customers and those that are not adding to your bottom line.
Grow Opportunistically and in Spurts
People seemed to think you often grow a small business not steadily but rather in spurts. More commonly, a small business gets to grow because the firm suddenly gets access to a new resource that bumps their capacity. Or a firm suddenly sees a new customer or client need it can help fill. Or a great new player joins the team and brings new contacts or skills and these support a step up in revenues.
Small businesses uncover a $500,000 or $5,000,000 opportunity, quickly capture some big percentage of the market, and then wait patiently and watch closely for the next opportunity to become visible through the fog.