Expert Panelists are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within the areas of Business, Mindset, Leadership, Lifestyle, and Sustainability. Members of The Brainz Magazine community of experts will share their best tips, advice, ideas, and hacks on different topics.
1. Concentrating on your strengths
You can grow your small business by concentrating on your strengths, fine-tuning systems, and implementing low to no-cost strategies for lead generation, joint ventures & sales training. All of these can be done in-house by auditing your processes – seeing which ones work, and which ones don’t and creating efficient ones where needed. Small, incremental tweaks will lead to exponential growth.
2. Guest Passes & Weekly Events
I started a small business by offering one cheap service, which was a 3 day VIP guest pass, which included 3 different services and gave potential clients a chance to:
• Experience services at a low cost or no cost
• Potential clients received a special offering on their first visit as a VIP Guest
• Each VIP Guest went home with goodies after purchasing a service after their first or third visit.
3. Attend meetings & give referrals
Depending upon your business, many companies find that joining a BNI chapter and attending meetings is a very inexpensive way to grow your business. Giving referrals and being involved yields referrals back. Once you join, you can attend other chapters and pitch your services as long as there isn't another member who does what you do.
4. Network
It can become very overwhelming when being an entrepreneur with a small business. However, there are some ways in which you can grow without spending large amounts of money. The most valuable advice I could pass on would be networking! It may be really easy to isolate yourself yet, get out there anyway! How? Local events such as markets if you have products; join your local commerce, look for others you can collaborate with, even joining something like Toastmasters, and don't forget social media is a great way to connect. Once you start to connect and collaborate through networking you will be amazed at the places it takes you to as well as the customers or clients who will find you!
5. Embrace marketing
Understand right from the start that you have to invest your time into marketing. By embracing marketing from the start of your business journey, you are acknowledging the importance of building relationships with your prospective audience. They need to get to know you, like you, and trust you. How can they do that if you let your own fears and doubts get in the way of getting your message out there? Allocate time every week to share your journey, insights, and experiences across all the platforms you are on. By doing this every week, you organically and for free build your presence.
6. Write, Speak, and Lead
Growing a small business is not for the faint of heart. It takes time, and commitment, and yes it takes money, but it doesn’t have to break the bank! While cheap is not my favorite rite word, inexpensive ways to create growth and sustainability in business are important. With more than forty years in business, three things have always been the most effective and affordable tools for success. Writing, speaking, and leading. Look for places for your words to be seen. Look for places for your words to be heard. Most importantly, look for places to step into leadership and be seen. These simple practices, create growth and are affordable for everyone in business, even the little guys!
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