By Mukaila Ayuba
It is the dream of every business owners to grow their businesses however no significant successes were achieved by the majority of business owners.
During interaction with business owners, the majority of whom are into distributorship and whole-sales, we discovered that, though they all wished to grow their business, but only 18% are making conscious efforts. With further probe into the reason for the inability to grow their businesses, a lot of reasons, like lack of fund; competition and substitution; Sabotage; dishonesty of staff and many more were itemized.
To grow your business, then below are the things to do:
i. Grow your customer base: This can be achieved through sales/marketing. Not many customers can be added to your business if you do not have good sales/marketing skills and mediums to make your product known to the targeted prospect. This can be done through direct and/or indirect marketing. It can also be physical contact (can be cold calls and D2D marketing) or through e-marketing and social media. One important aspect of marketing is referral marketing. Referral marketing is as old as time and it is still very potent. Though people refer others to businesses and do not get paid. Except if you are implementing a referral program into your marketing strategy, your customers can keep referring others to you and not get paid. They do this unconsciously based on the satisfaction they received from you. This way you can grow your customer base.
ii. Relationship Management: In everything that we do, managing relationship should be a skill that everyone must possess. In business, lack of relationship management could be very hazardous. It is important to maintain a good relationship with your employee, suppliers, the community where the business is being done and ultimately your customers. Some business owners have made the mistake of trying to maintain a good relationship with their customers but fail with their employees and suppliers. While your supplier can supply you substandard products or put your request at the bottom, also your staff if not properly managed could sabotage your efforts by stealing from you; directing business to your competitors or even make your customers’ experiences bitter ones. When you maintain a good relationship with all stakeholders, you have successfully shut the door against bleeding. Your customers would be loyal to you and would not exit your business at will; your employees would be dedicated to you; your suppliers would ensure you get the best on-time even when there is scarcity.
iii. Understand how business financials work: A lot of business owners, because they do not understand how financials work in the business, are unable to tell if their business is making a profit or not, either in the short term or long term. You do not have to be a financial guru, but you can have basic knowledge of what constitutes the total capital of your business. Know your working capital, working capital investment, assets, and liabilities. This would guide you in making some financial and investment decisions; It will help you to understand your cash flow on the go; it would also enable you to know where your funds are hanging. You can employ an account clerk who while working on the financial performances can also put you through some basics. You can employ the service of financial consultants who would send their staff to you regularly to assist. They can also put you through. Having basic knowledge does not mean you will not need the services of professionals, it simply helps you to maintain good financial planning culture.
Conclusion
Though the list is in exhaustive, however, the points above would help grow your business in Oyo State if it is adequately adopted and practiced.
The article is contributed by Mukaila Ayuba from Ibadan, Oyo state capital.
