Tweet

Grow your business!

Written by: Linda Mattacks

Article Overview: Referrals and recommendations are great but most companies find that a more structured approach is needed to plan workloads, cash flow and sustainable growth. Take control and get a plan, a scaleable prospecting routine and an approach that works for you.

Grow your business!

Many businesses start out with the founders breaking away from a larger company and taking some clients with them. If they’re good at what they do they’ll be able to grow the business to a certain extent in the first few years by word of mouth and recommendation.

However, there are likely to be peaks where everyone is stretched to the absolute limit to meet the demands existing customers. Then there are troughs with the accompanying bursts of prospecting activity, when any business seems attractive (even if it’s not particularly profitable), just to keep some cash flowing in.

Most small businesses go through this stage and find that the seesaw effect doesn’t right itself until someone firmly takes responsibility for long term planning and growth as well as the day-to-day running of the business.

Part of that entails having a scaleable prospecting routine that works for the company.
Every business should be actively seeking new custom unless it’s deliberately winding the company down or is so well known that potential customers regularly approach it. Even those that have so much profitable work via referrals, reputation and word of mouth, both currently and lined up well into the foreseeable future should be looking to expand the workforce to take on more business of a similar calibre if they’re serious about growing the business.

You, like most companies, may need to undertake prospecting activities just to stand still. One reason for this is that there will be times when you lose business through no fault of your own.

Think about it:
· A project you've geared up resources to work on progresses so far then gets indefinitely halted
· A contract that you've had for several years suddenly isn't renewed
· A competitor comes up with a superior or cheaper alternative
· The list is potentially endless

How well placed is your business to weather one or more of these hits? We are all familiar with Vilfredo Pareto's principle: Applied in this case it's that 80% of business comes from 20% of customers. If your customer base is small, that means you are relying on less than a handful for the majority of your income, and you are very vulnerable.

Is your prospecting activity like a well-oiled machine that you can rev up or slow down according to the needs of the business at any given time? Or is it more like a knee jerk reaction to external influences and events?

If you wait until you can no longer sustain your current level of business before you start prospecting for more, you will suffer - because it takes time to identify, contact, qualify, sell to, close, deliver to, and get paid by new customers.

You need a plan, a scaleable routine and an approach that works for your company, in your industry and your marketplace. And you need bring your research, contact marketing and sales skills together to enable you to:

· Accurately 'read' what your market wants and
· Convincingly communicate how your offer meets those requirements better than any of your competitors'

Happy and successful hunting!

Related Articles
  Twelve Strategic "Grow Goals" To Grow Your Business According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Hydroponic Grow Closet: The Perfect Place to Grow your Own Food
  Pursuit of Leadership Happiness
  The Dreaded "To Do" List
  Targeting Your Niche Made Simple – Start Small, Grow Later

Article Tags: prospecting, prospecting, the business, Vilfredo Pareto



Related Forum Posts
Re: My 3 best business books - It seems that Napoleon Hill works help a lot of business men. He had done a really good job. I bought Think and Grow Rich many times.
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
Re: Are you going to watch the Social Network? - I think it would be great to see this guy's story. Even though movies tend to exaggerate, I love reading about and watching the stories of entrepreneurs. The underlying principle is always the same - successful businesses always start with an idea. Even if you inherit a business, it originated with someone's idea. That's why I love Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich."
Think and Grow Rich - Hi Moira, What a great post! I completely agree with it and it really is too easy to underestimate those 3 points but once we learn to use them the sky is the limit. I am currently reading Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill. Have you read that book?
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Thanks Guys.... WHEW . . . .That deserves an AMEN...... I use "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill (read it over 30 years ago) and ezinearticles.com as a good source of my everyday needs. I also talk out loud . . . . "Out loud" is important. Your concious mind has to "HEAR IT" . Of course I read alot more and talk to 3 successful friends about business and life but the above is my core nourishment.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Track Your Time for Increased Productivity

Looking for an Easy Online Business Opportunity?

The Right Job - Part Five 'Compensation'

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.