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11 Top Small Business Growth Strategies to Drive More Revenue

<p class="p3">So, you started a business, you&#8217;ve landed yourself a few customers, and things are going well. It&#8217;s such a great feeling. Eventually, you will want to grow your business and get more customers and more revenue.</p>
<p class="p3">Growing your small business is an exciting, crucial part of your journey as an entrepreneur. In this article, you will learn the answer to the question “how to grow my small business” with proven, effective strategies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h2 class="p1">What Is a Business Growth Strategy?</h2>
<p class="p1">Statistics show that around half of businesses fail within the first five years of opening. The next statistic is just as sobering, as only a third survive past the ten-year mark. This doesn’t mean you are helpless, however. While owning a business is always risky, it is riskier if you do not apply small business growth strategies.</p>
<p class="p1">A growth strategy is a plan you create and execute for the growth of your small business. It is the set of actions that will carry you through the different stages of your business. How you create this plan depends on the goals you have for your business.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">Because growth means something different to each business owner, you will need to consider what it means to you before creating the plan. Consider types of business growth, such as whether you want <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/sales-tips-for-small-businesses/"><span class="s1">more sales</span></a>, more revenue, a larger customer base, or another location.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h2 class="p1">5 Stages of Small Business Growth</h2>
<p class="p1">Growth depends on the stage your business is in and where you want to take it. Growing a business that just opened requires different strategies than <a href="https://www.podium.com/guides/local-business-growth-blueprint/"><span class="s1">growing a business</span></a> that already has an established customer base.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>1. Seed and Development</h3>
<p class="p1">This is the <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/small-business-ideas-to-try/"><span class="s1">initial stage</span></a> of starting a new business. In this stage, you are exploring and fine-tuning marketing and sales strategies. Entrepreneurs do a lot of market research in this stage of business and ask lots of questions to determine what their target market needs. “Growing a small business” tips will tell you to determine what your business idea looks like. Is it solid enough to get customers to come in? This stage generally occurs even before the business opens.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>2. Startup</h3>
<p class="p1">Once you’re open for business, you are in the startup stage. You are getting new customers and encountering new issues. This is when you get the hang of day-to-day operations. This part of small business growth is all about adapting and surviving. You need to get your business processes down and adjust them as you go. Once your business becomes more stable, it enters the next phase.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>3. Establishment</h3>
<p class="p1">In this stage of development, you are steadily growing a customer base and generating stable income. Some businesses may be fighting to break even. The focus in this stage is often to make improvements to your bottom line fast. This may be through cost reduction, increased productivity, more equipment, or more employees. Create your plan around whichever you think is going to work to get your business improved.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>4. Expansion</h3>
<p class="p1">When a business reaches this stage, it is profitable, stable, and becoming established in its field. This isn’t the time to relax, however. It is the stage when owners may explore new adventures and small business growth strategies. This may mean staking a larger share of the market, pursuing partnerships, franchising, or even product development. Your goal during this stage of growth should be expansion without the overuse of your resources.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>5. Maturity</h3>
<p class="p1">At the maturity stage, your business is bringing in yearly profits. This is when some business owners sell their business or sign it over to a new CEO. Others go back to the previous stage and expand their business another time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h2 class="p1">4 Tips for Growing a Small Business</h2>
<p class="p1">Before implementing marketing strategies for small businesses, you will need to plan them carefully. As you plan your growth strategy, keep the following considerations in mind.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>1. Set Your Goals</h3>
<p class="p1">You need to have defined objectives or goals before you can follow any other “growing a small business” tips. Create just a few key goals so you don’t get overwhelmed. Set defined timeframes and review your efforts at the end of the period. Make these goals quantifiable.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">If you want to grow, define what percentage you want your sales to increase by. Perhaps you make $30,000 a year and want it to increase by 10%.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>2. Define What “Growth” Means to You</h3>
<p class="p1">Using the previous example, growth would mean earning a yearly profit of $33,000. Aside from financial goals, you can also consider metrics such as customers served or customer engagement. You can even set goals for more employees or better employee packages. The goal you choose will depend on your business stage and current needs.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>3. Do Your Research</h3>
<p class="p1">Take the time to research critical information. You want to define your business’s unique value. Which assets or qualities set you apart? You won’t know if you don’t research your competition and existing market. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>4. Define Your Ideal Customer</h3>
<p class="p1">One important thing you should do before pursuing small business growth strategies is define your ideal customer. Who is your product or service tailored to? You can look at current customers or customers of businesses that are similar to yours. Consider niches you may have missed and perform thorough research into who your client will be.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">What interests do they have? What problems need to be solved? What budget are they working with? This information will give you the details you need to define your ideal customer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">Remember that your ideal customer or target audience may change over time, especially between the initial planning stages and when you start actually running the business.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-26402" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-1024x597.png" alt="local business employees discussing business growth" width="640" height="373" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-1024x597.png 1024w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-300x175.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-768x448.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-600x350.png 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-360x210.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-160x93.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-350x204.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-100x58.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth-588x343.png 588w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/local-business-employees-discussing-business-growth.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></p>
<h2 class="p1">7 Small Business Growth Strategies</h2>
<p class="p1">With a better idea of what business growth is and general tips for growing your business, it is time to look at specific strategies that you can use in your business growth plan.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>1. Market Penetration</h3>
<p class="p1">With this strategy, you aim to sell more of your products to your current market. This is one of the lower-risk small business strategy examples. One way to accomplish this is to have competitive prices. You can also <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/understanding-small-business-customer-service/"><span class="s1">attract new customers</span></a> with discounts and special offers. Bulk discounts can also encourage more sales. You can also increase the number of dealers and distributors your business uses.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>2. Product Expansion</h3>
<p class="p1">One of the most common <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/market-your-small-business-effectively/"><span class="s1">small business</span></a> growth strategies, product expansion involves the creation of new services or goods to market to your current audience. This is an attempt to capture more of the market. Some examples of product expansion include:</p>
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1">Bundling services into new tiers and packages</li>
<li class="li1">Introducing new products</li>
<li class="li1">Updating clients about products changing features</li>
<li class="li1">Adding new varieties to existing products.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
</ul>
<h3>3. Remove Unprofitable Services and Products</h3>
<p class="p1">On the opposite side of expanding your products, you should also strategically remove products and services that aren’t generating a profit. Analyze the revenues and costs of each of your products to figure out what isn’t profitable.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">You don’t need to automatically discontinue products that don’t turn a profit. You can reevaluate them to see if you can reduce costs. It may also be worth it if it is a minor loss and leads to people buying products with high profit margins, but that should always be carefully considered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>4. Market Segmentation</h3>
<p class="p1">This method of exploring “how to grow my small business” refers to the practice of identifying smaller groups within your target market. These groups share similar qualities, such as demographics, buying behavior, geography, or needs.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">When you’re a smaller business in competition with larger ones, market segmentation can help you identify which vectors your competition hasn’t explored. That way, you don’t have to compete with the resources of large businesses.</p>
<h3 class="p1">5. Partnerships</h3>
<p class="p1">A strategic partnership can be any partnership your business needs. This can be another company tagging you in a social media post or sharing your blog. Or it can be something larger like collaborating on a product. These strategic partnerships help get your business in front of other potential customers.</p>
<p class="p1">Look to other brands for ideas and then think of companies you have interacted with. You can team up with similar companies to promote services and goods to the benefit of both businesses. Or consider partnering with your distributors or suppliers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">The ideal business partner isn’t a direct competitor. They will be somehow relevant to your business and have similar brand values and culture. As you choose a partner, don’t forget to consider their reputation and market reach.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3>6. Diversification</h3>
<p class="p1">When you use diversification as part of your growth strategy, you are introducing new services or goods to new markets. This brings higher levels of risk compared to other types of business growth but it has the potential for high returns.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">There are different types of diversification, including the following:</p>
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1">With <b>horizontal diversification</b>, you make a new product for your current clients.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
<li class="li1"><b>Concentric diversification</b> is when you offer a new service or product that is a spin-off of an existing, successful product.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
<li class="li1"><b>Conglomerate diversification</b> is when new services or goods are offered to new audiences.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
<li class="li1">With <b>vertical diversification,</b> you start marketing to your competitors and competing with your suppliers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
</ul>
<h3>7. Create a Sales Funnel</h3>
<p class="p1">A sales funnel will help you increase sales, making it one of the crucial marketing strategies for small businesses. You should use a codified sales funnel when doing so. With the steps delineated, you can see more clearly where a customer dropped off before they bought a service or product. Once you remove potential obstacles between customers and sales, you can achieve business growth more easily.</p>
<h2 class="p1">Growth Solutions for Small Businesses</h2>
<p class="p1">The most effective way to grow your small business is to focus on a few marketing strategies that meet your goals. As you look at small business strategy examples, you will notice that business growth often includes driving customers to increase revenue.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Here are a few growth tactics that every small business should consider. </span></p>
<h3 class="p1">Text Marketing</h3>
<p class="p1">Reaching out to leads and customers through text marketing is an important way to grow your business. It doesn’t need to be done on your own, however. There are companies that can help you design and <a href="https://www.podium.com/text-marketing/"><span class="s1">send one text that drives thousands in revenue</span></a>. You can also use these professional companies to find <a href="https://www.podium.com/texting-templates/"><span class="s3">texting templates</span></a> to help you take the guesswork out of the texts you send.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<h3 class="p1">Customer Reviews</h3>
<p class="p1">Reviews are a driving force of growth for small businesses. The vast majority of shoppers read reviews before buying a new product or trying a service. On top of that, most people view reviews the same as a personal recommendation, making them a strong influence on your ability to attract customers. Simply put, <a href="https://www.podium.com/reviews/"><span class="s1">more reviews mean more business for you</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">Solutions like Podium can help you generate more reviews with ease, letting you see the positive effects they bring. A <a href="https://www.podium.com/google-review-link/"><span class="s1">Google Review link generator</span></a>, for example, makes it easy for customers to leave a review.</p>
<h3 class="p1">Webchat</h3>
<p class="p1">With Podium&#8217;s Webchat, you can easily turn your website visitors into leads and convert them into satisfied customers. Webchat lets you <a href="https://www.podium.com/webchat/"><span class="s1">make your website a conversation starter</span></a>. Use Podium to <a href="https://www.podium.com/webchat-in-action/"><span class="s1">see Webchat in action on your site</span></a> and see how it helps you generate leads and grow your business.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>Ready to grow? <a href="https://www.podium.com/free-trial/">Give Podium a try for free</a> today.</p>
