The last 18 months have been rather unlike any other for businesses across the full spectrum of commerce and industry. The effects of the pandemic on organisations of all shapes and sizes were stark, but many businesses now coming out of the other side of, or indeed borne out of, lockdown life have plenty of opportunities for growth in front of them.
Growth and, more importantly, success alongside growth is the name of the game for any business, but not necessarily an easy task in current market conditions. The big question for any business owner is, then, how do you grow your business in 2021?
Offer a personalised experience
Personalisation of your customer offering provides you with two key drivers for success with your patrons – trust and authenticity. Customers feel more connected and loyal to brands that they feel represent and understand them, and you can utilise automated personalisation tools to optimise your marketing campaigns so every communication they receive from you has been tailored to their customer profile.
Understand the power of SEO
Search engine optimisation, otherwise known as SEO, is big business these days, and for good reason. Implementing good SEO practices in your business will help attract more customers, raise your profile both locally and nationally and enable you to stay ahead of your competition.
If it’s something you’re not familiar with, you need to become familiar quickly. Particularly for businesses with a strong e-commerce base, SEO will arguably be the core foundation for success.
Focus on customer service
Customers are still king, and just as you want to create a personalised experience for them to make them feel more valued, you also want to ensure that feeling of value continues through a quality customers experience. In a modern business world of customer review platforms like Trustpilot and Feefo, ensure your customer service efforts, both online and physical, are quite literally five-star.
Expand your product range
The pandemic was a death knell for many organisations with established and rigid product bases because there was no longer a sufficient need for their services. On the flipside, many businesses who could offer versatility and flexibility in their product offering were able to reorganise, refocus and survive based on new or previously lesser established products in their range.
The lesson to come from this is that wider product ranges can be a blessing rather than a curse. Of course, it’s not suitable for every business to have an expansive catalogue of goods available, but having that versatility up your sleeve could come in handy on a rainy day.
Budget accordingly
Budgeting for growth is a key aspect in business. Invoice financing is one way of releasing funds quickly, or a business loan for a larger cash injection, but knowing how much to save or borrow to invest can be a difficult calculation.
There are a number of ways to figure this out, from using a market budget calculator to reviewing your 2020 budget or tapping into industry research. One thing is for sure, though, and that is to achieve solid growth you’ll likely need to make solid investment into your company. It’s up to you to decide on where those funds come from, and how big those funds are.
The legacy of the pandemic may still be in play, but the back end of 2021 and beyond will see plenty of opportunities for businesses to grow as the world reopens in full. While the makeup and operation of the business world may have changed forever, many of the factors for successful growth haven’t, and now is the time to implement them in your business.
