According to recent studies, most small businesses close in five years. This is often due to the fact that they fail to maintain their sales or customer base enough to create a sustainable business model. As a result, you must put in a real effort to grow your business each year instead of settling for simply staying afloat. This is more important than ever in light of the COVID-19 pandemic (and its ongoing financial impact).
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With that in mind, here are some top tips that you can use to ensure that your business continues to grow in 2022 (and beyond).
- Invest in the right technology. It’s no secret that workplace efficiency is key to your business moving forward, as it means you can complete tasks to a high standard without wasting time. Thankfully, there are various ways to improve your workplace efficiency, especially when it comes to technology. For example, you could invest in technology from companies such as Robotunits, which use innovative conveyor and linear motion technology solutions to speed up production lines.
- Give your staff exactly what you need. As your business grows, your workforce should grow accordingly, as this is the only way you’ll be able to meet the needs of a growing customer base. However, if you want to take your business to the next level, you must not underestimate the importance of employee retention. After all, it’s far better for your company (both financially and practically) to keep employees around instead of spending hours reading CVs and interviewing potential candidates each month. Thankfully, there are various ways in which you can improve employee retention rates. For example, you should ensure that you invest in plenty of ways to help your employees grow professionally.
- Outsource when necessary. While you may be an expert within your field, it’s important that you are also able to recognise when some skills or tasks are beyond your own capabilities. For example, if you run a retail company, you may be an excellent communicator with a real understanding of consumer behaviours – but very little about taxes and budgeting. In these cases, the advantages of outsourcing are clear – as you can welcome a seasoned expert into your team without having to pay for a full-time employee.
- Ensure that employees are not overburdened. There is a real ‘need for speed’ in modern business practices no matter what industry you operate within. Customer expectations are higher than ever, and they expect to receive products quickly after ordering (sometimes the very next day). Therefore, in order to meet these needs, you may feel as though you have to increase employee workload and create a culture that focuses on getting the job done quickly. However, in doing so, you may cause the quality of the work you complete to drop significantly – while also putting employees on the path to burnout. Therefore, if you want your business to grow, you should ensure that employees are given the care and support they need and that tasks are delegated fairly.
