Expanding your business does not necessarily mean that you have to have hundreds of employees or even massive business premises. In fact, there are plenty of multimillion-dollar businesses in the world that have only a small handful of employees, all doing what they do best and keeping their customer base within their own particular niche happy, contented, and coming back for more.
How to use promotional products wisely
When you are looking to expand your client base or at least inflate your order book, it is best to use promotional products. Now you may think that this is easy and just throw whatever you can at anyone, but this could very well cost your business dearly with little to no real return on the money which you have paid out.
What kind of promotional products you are looking to use will decide on the results you get. For instance, if you are purely looking to get your business more well-known in the area or are looking to raise your profile, then using items that come under the heading of company swag could be what you are looking for. However, if you are looking to produce more sales from the customers that you currently have, looking more to samples could be the way forward.
Obviously, there are some businesses that may struggle when it comes to giving out samples of what they are offering. In these circumstances, offering swag that is closely connected to your services may entice your customers to buy more. But those businesses that sell products rather than services could find that including samples of other products that they make with their customer orders could result in their customers buying full-sized versions of the samples that they received.
If, for instance, you were selling bath and body products and you had customers buying shower gels, you probably wouldn’t increase your sales by providing them with samples of other shower gels to try, but you may up your sales by giving them samples of body lotions, deodorant, shampoos, and conditioners.
Obtaining the right services to support your business
Regardless of what kind of business you are running, you will need to give it and your employees the right support by way of software, technology, and services from other businesses in order to keep it current and to work at its fullest potential.
Having out-of-date technology and software can not only be frustrating and stressful for your employees, but it may also slow their productivity down and therefore cost you more money due to the time that they will spend trying to get their job roles completed. It may very well cost you in reputation with your customers as well as your employees will not be able to provide them with the level of service that they could get elsewhere.
However, when you are looking to invest in technology and software, it is important that you obtain that which will be able to support your business requirements as your business progresses and expands rather than opting for something that will just about cope with how your business is now.
Many businesses have their own cloud so that they do not have to rely on their own office-based servers, which can get full, slow the drive’s running time, and crash, as well as being an extra security hazard in that it can be stolen.
Storing your software and all your data on the cloud is the safest and easiest possible option, but if you do not have one, then the next best thing is to use services that will offer their cloud to run the software that you require. For instance, cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning). Cloud ERP is a system that will run the software, such as workforce management software, on a vendor’s cloud platform rather than on an on-site network.
This means that you will have access to their experts and that they will ensure that the software runs smoothly and without a hitch. You will automatically have necessary upgrades, faster and better scalability, and fewer infrastructure costs.
Outsourcing for profit
Although there are plenty of businesses that offer their services so that you can outsource areas of your business that you either only require momentarily or do not desire to have as a physical presence within your premises, there are also individuals that will offer their knowledge and expertise as well.
This can be very advantageous when you are running a small business and want to save on the costly salaries of those experts with specific qualifications. Hiring these people as and when you require their services for ad hoc projects means that you will not have to pay them their fees when they are not completing work for you.
This will help to expand your business while still keeping it small, and if you find that one or more of these experts fit in well with your team, you will be able to hire their services rather than go looking for others to work with. This also works the other way round, and if you find that your team does not get along with the outsourced worker, then you will not have to hire them again but look elsewhere for your expert.
The benefits of having a close-knit team
There are some real benefits in working with a close-knit team and keeping your business small and personal. You will be able to keep a close watch on your employee morale and keep it high, as well as be able to inspire loyalty within your employee group. Each and every member of your team will not only be and feel responsible for the work that they carry out but will also feel that your business is their business which will mean that they will work harder and all be moving towards the same goal as you.
Should there be any issues within your team, you will be able to get them under control, whereas if you have a large number of employees, you may not notice or even be aware that there is a problem until it has gotten well and truly out of control.
