Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2010. The argument that a business without a website does not exist in customers’ eyes in this new era reflects that time.
Here are a few simple tips for growing your business, courtesy of Charles Denney, president of Empresarios U.S.A.
1. Higher prices, higher profits
To justify higher prices, though, you need to be a specialist in your product or service. Customers are always willing to pay more to an expert rather than pay a little less to someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
2. Give something away for free
Offer something free, or a significant extra discount, in exchange for contact details or referrals to new customers. You could give a customer a valuable gift in exchange for a list of 10 or 15 people who might be interested in your product or service. Big companies use this idea too: that way your customer also becomes your scout for potential new customers.
3. Put time into the business
If you want to double your sales, you need to temporarily double the time you spend winning new customers and looking after existing ones, as well as promoting new products and services.
4. Work with other companies
If you run a company and want it to grow, remember that other companies want to grow too. You can form strategic alliances with businesses that have a customer base similar to yours and offer a different but compatible service. Exchanging customer data with each other is one way for both companies to benefit from the collaboration, and you’ll gain ground on the competition along the way.
5. Every business needs its place on the web
This is a question of mindset in this new era. There are two important reasons why your business needs to be online:
- In the customer’s eyes, a business that isn’t on the internet these days doesn’t exist, or can’t be trusted.
- Being online means your business can sell, or provide information about your product, 24 hours a day, just like your competitors.
Further reading
- Start a business or buy one?
- Donald Trump and the entrepreneur’s mindset
- How to finance your business
- Tips for running a company
- Advertising your business on a very small budget
Featured image: rawpixel.com, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
