You’ll want to boost sales and raise revenue no matter what kind of small business you run. That is the reason why so many individuals are curious about how to expand a small business.

For small business entrepreneurs, there isn’t a simple, universal plan for business expansion. However, there are important tactics you can do to give your company the best chance of expanding.

10 Ways to Grow Your Small Business

Scaling your small business effectively and efficiently can be difficult. It requires a smart approach and effort from various parts of your company, including:

Sales
Marketing
Finance
Legal

And because you’re still a startup, you may find yourself wearing many hats until you can hire expert employees. Although growing your small business will take time and energy, there are 10 strategies you can use to help accelerate business growth.

1. Do Your Research

You must conduct market research when considering how to expand your small firm. You can better understand both your current and potential clients thanks to this. It’s crucial to obtain understanding of your target market and be aware of their wants. You may then understand how your company can develop and adapt to suit those needs.

Remember to do some research on your rivals as well. You may make more informed judgments about how to appropriately scale your small business by being aware of their strengths and drawbacks.

2. Build a Sales Funnel

Your sales funnel can assist in expanding your company. Consider a sales funnel to be the journey of a consumer. They are at the top of the funnel when they enter your store or go to your website. They have completed the funnel when they make a purchase or sign up for a service. In order to achieve a sale, you should try to think of strategies to drive consumers through the funnel. This can involve giving them a discount or requesting their contact information so you can give them news about your company.

3. Increase Customer Retention

It’s not enough to just get new customers for your business. You also need to keep your existing customers coming back. When you increase customer retention, you’re building customer loyalty, which can increase sales.¹

Considering it costs five-times as much to get a new customer than it does to keep a current one, focusing on retaining customers means your business won’t spend money on something that isn’t a guaranteed investment.²

You can increase your customer retention by:

Prioritizing customer service: If you don’t treat your customers right, they won’t want to support your business. Making sure you address their concerns and give them the best experience possible shows you value them as a customer.

Using a customer relations management (CRM) system: CRM systems help your business manage relationships with existing and potential customers. They help you maintain customer information and identify sales opportunities. One of the biggest benefits is that the data gets stored in one place, so you and other employees who need it can access it.

Creating a customer loyalty program: These programs reward your existing customers for supporting your business. They can also help you attract new customers or get back those that left your business.

Launching an email campaign: Using an email campaign can help make sure your business stays on top of customers’ minds. It’s also a great way to move existing and potential customers through your sales funnel.

Engaging with customers on social media: Your customers may reach out to your business on social media with a question or to share feedback, pain points or complaints. Taking the time to respond and engage with them shows you value their thoughts and take their concerns seriously.

Keep your promises: No one likes feeling forgotten. If you tell a customer you’ll follow up with them with more information or contact them at a later date, do it. If you don’t, it can give your customers a bad impression of your business.

4. Participate in Networking Events

Increasing your brand visibility can help you attract new customers and grow your business. A good way to do this is by attending networking events. Check local professional organizations and don’t be afraid to attend a few events to get the word out about your business.

You can participate in these events by:

Attending and meeting other business owners
Putting up a booth to promote your business
Speaking as an industry expert

5. Practice Corporate Social Responsibility

Many customers want to do business with a company that matches their own values. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means you recognize the impact your business has on all aspects of the community. Letting the public see what your business is doing to have a positive impact can help your business’ bottom line.

Some examples of how your business can practice CSR are:

Going green: The benefits of running a green business go beyond having cheaper utility costs. It shows the public you’re serious about reducing your business’ impact on the environment. Go green and make changes to reduce your carbon footprint, such as getting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification or pursuing energy-efficient projects.

Giving back to the community: Encourage your employees to volunteer in the communities they live and work in. Whether it’s working at a food bank or cleaning up open spaces, these kinds of activities show that your business is serious about investing in the area and people.

Producing sustainable products: Find out if there are ways you can change materials or your process to create more environmentally-friendly products.

6. Form Strategic Partnerships

Entering a strategic partnership with another business can give you the chance to reach a broader network of customers or align growth with strategic goals in your business plan. One example of a successful strategic partnership is between Starbucks and other national stores, like Barnes & Noble or Target. The partnership puts the coffee chain into many retail stores across the country, which increases its reach and revenue.

You may even form a strategic partnership with a vendor to help expand your business. Whatever type of partnership you form, it’s important you manage business relationships and maintain effective vendor relationships.

7. Consider Franchising Your Small Business

Business franchising is a common growth strategy for small businesses. This means you sell your business’ rights to an independent owner. Then, they open and operate their own franchise of your business. Many well-known companies sell franchises, like McDonald’s, Starbucks and Marriott hotels. When a new franchise opens, it increases the number of locations of your business, which helps bring in more revenue.

Before you agree to sell the rights to your company, you have to know is your business franchisable? The franchising process is more appropriate for certain types of industries, such as fast food restaurants or gyms.

8. Diversify Your Product or Service Offerings

You’ve had success selling your main product or service to customers. After all, that’s what made you think of growing your small business. Now, offering different products or services can help you get new customers. You can do this by:

Identifying opportunities for new products or services: Do market research to see if there’s something new you can offer your customers to buy.
Finding different ways to offer your existing products: This includes subscriptions or bundles.

One business that grew by diversifying its product offerings is Moment. The company’s initial products included lenses for smartphones to improve photography. Now, the company has expanded its offerings to include apps and accessories to use with its lenses.

9. Extend to New Markets

There’s no question that franchising gives you a chance to increase your customer base. But if your business isn’t franchisable, there are alternatives to franchising, such as expanding your business through exporting.

Finding exporting opportunities means you can ship your products and services across the globe. The benefits of exporting include:

Leveraging global platforms to sell your products and services online
The opportunity to open new business locations
Access to more customers and businesses

Take your business global and give your company an opportunity to increase its market share.

10. Measure What Works and Refine as You Go

While there are many tactics you can employ to expand your small business, it’s critical that you track which ones are effective. You could need to adjust your plan, for instance, if you develop a customer loyalty program only to discover that it doesn’t increase client retention. Perhaps it involves getting a CRM and regularly communicating with your clients, or it involves communicating with them via email or social media.

You will need to take calculated risks if you want to grow your small business. You should take a look at your business plan and create precise and reasonable predictions about how you believe various methods will impact your company. The secret to running a successful business is keeping track of your development and updating as necessary.