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Successful Entrepreneurs - Five Keys to Grow Your Business in a Tough Economy

Written by: Jerre Blodgett

Article Overview: Successful entrepreneurs know that this is the best time in history to Launch a New Business, Build a Business, Gain Market Share, Introduce a New Product or Service and Improve Customer Relations. Here are five proven secrets for success in any economy . . .

Successful Entrepreneurs - Five Keys to Grow Your Business in a Tough Economy

While competitors are waiting out the economic storm, successful entrepreneurs are finding that this is the best time in history to ...

• Launch a New Business
• Build A Business
• Gain Market Share
• Introduce a New Product/Service
• Improve Customer Relations

For the new business, it's a perfect time to rev up your engines and shoot off the starting line. For the going business, you can grab dormant market share and quickly outdistance complacent, slow-moving, out-of-gas competitors. How do I know this? I've built successful businesses during every recession in the past 35 years!

Here are Five Quick Keys to put you on the fast track:

1. KEY ONE - Promote Your Brand with gusto. Do it as if no one has ever heard about your company. Send regular print and email mailers to customers and prospects to let them know you're not just waiting out the storm. Offer specials, discounts and "buy now" incentives. Create "Buzz!" Don't cut your ad budget; make smarter allocations. Perhaps you can eliminate trade shows and put those dollars into revamping your website or launching an ad campaign. Always keep promoting your business.

2. KEY TWO - Find Market Opportunities. Analyze your market share, by product or service. Focus on those niches that have strong demand but less competition. Re-evaluate new product/service ideas that you haven't had time to pursue. Create ways you could use staff and infrastructure to penetrate closely allied markets. A Gap Analysis is a rich source of product/service opportunities that aren't being addressed as well as a great way to reinvent your company, get creative juices flowing again and stimulate growth.

3. KEY THREE - Build Customer Relations. Conduct interviews with key clients and prospects to learn more about their long-term needs and how to serve them better. Your customers and prospects likely have time on their hands and will be willing to talk to you, especially if they see long-term benefits. Devise ways to improve your customers' experiences at every contact point with your company. You'll create new relationships, deepen existing relationships and expand goodwill. You'll also gain significant insights about potential opportunities.

4. KEY FOUR - Expand Your Network. Get involved in local and industry organizations that expose you to other business people of like mind. It's stimulating, educational, enriching . . and a great source of referrals!

5. KEY FIVE - Stimulate Publicity. This doesn't cost anything, and you can do it with staff that isn't busy. Find out where your city and/or surrounding community needs volunteer help. Have your team come up with two to three programs that could help the community, and pick one. Get your customers involved. When that's finished, choose the next, and so on. Much publicity can ensue from this.

You successful entrepreneurs know that, no matter what the economy is doing, there is no better time than the present to propel your business forward!

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Article Tags: business gain, creative juices, customer relations, economic storm, expe, gain market share, gap analysis, market opportunities, perfect time, promoting your business, quick keys, rich source, service focus, service ideas, service opportunities, starting line, successful entrepreneurs, time in history, track 1, waiting out the storm



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