Everyone wants their business to grow, that is the aim from the day it starts. Growth in every aspect; financial growth, customer growth, inventory growth and even social growth. At the beginning of your startup, it may not be exactly how you picture it being in 2,3,5 years or even 6 months from the launch. However, what is important is that you begin and aim to grow. One quote that I live by is, ‘day one is better than one day’. That is, the days you spend dreaming and hoping for a better day to begin something are just wasted. You can start today from even the tiniest task and grow to where you want to be.

Change is one of the constants in life. You either evolve or you get washed away and so it goes with your business. To evolve, you have to employ some strategies for your business that requires discipline. You may not feel like doing it that moment but do it anyways, having a bad day? Go out of your way to do it, even if things are a bit sour you still have to employ these principles consistently and they will help your business grow.

1. Manage your Finances

As a business owner, especially if you have a small business that you are the sole proprietor of, it should be your major task to bookkeep every detail about your finance. Ensure you have a record, digital or written, that details all the money coming in and out of your business. You also need a separate bank account for your business money. Never mix your personal money with your business money, if you do you won’t have spending boundaries and you’ll end up taking money from your business to solve personal problems. Business money is meant for your business only, for improvement; to buy more goods or improve on your knowledge and services. You can pay yourself from it at a stipulated time, depending on how much you’ve made that period, or you can have a percentage of profits you take as your salary. If you can master this habit of managing your finance properly, your business will grow with time.

2. Have a no credit policy

This can be tricky, especially for family and friends as I have experienced it too. However, this is an important habit to have as a business owner as it also flows along the line of managing your finances. Avoid creditors like a plague. Don’t be overjoyed to give your products out on credit because you want to record a sale, it is not even a sale anyways. Make this policy plain and clear to your customers so they understand that is how you roll and operate. For some businesses, you can collect a deposit payment first then a balance of payment after the job is done. I use this technique for my fashion business. Find out what works for you and stick to it, but never give your products or services out on credit first hand.

3. Upgrade and Improve

Everyone wants to be better and bigger than who they are now. Even the rich look for more riches, they are hungry for it and so it should be in your business. Your number one goal should be to advance in every aspect of your business, it should not be the same as the previous year even if the change is small. Small progresses are still progress. You can improve on your skills, take classes, courses and even mentorship programs on how you can become better at what you do. This new knowledge will be visible in your business dealings. You can improve on your product or service quality, you can upgrade to a better store, shop or warehouse, you can better your customer service, your packaging, your advertisement and so much more. Always be on the lookout as to what you can do to make your business better and more professional. No business can be perfect but your goal should be to make yours perfect. That is why it is important to keep your business money strictly to business as most improvements will be facilitated with money.

4. Topnotch customer service

I should have written this first, but I am following a laid-out order in my head and I saved the best for last, this is very important. There is a reason they say a customer is king. They have what you want —sorry scratch that— what you need! A good reason you started your business (all other reasons aside) is to make money. Only your customers have that money to give you. so yes, they are your kings and you are their servants. Serve them, be generous with your kindness, make them smile, talk to them casually and make the relationship more personable, offer discounts, give them gifts, send them well wishes, I repeat SERVE THEM. If you can get this one habit under your belt, even when you are dealing with a rude customer and you still apply this ‘customer is king’ mentality, I promise you you will never lack sales. They will always come back to you because they like your business and even more than that, they like you because they feel you respect them. This particular habit takes discipline but once you master it, your business will grow so fast your competitors will think you used manure, haha did you get that joke? 🙂

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Your business is your child. You conceived the idea for it and brought it to life in the market. It should be of utmost priority to you to ensure it grows strong, and better and garners a large solid customer base. Apply these habits to your business and its dealings for 3-6 months and watch the results you’d get, you will be astounded. Remember though, real positive growth doesn’t happen overnight but is birthed from consistency over some time.

Do you have any personal habit or principle that you apply to your business that has helped it grow? You can share it with us in the comments down below 🙂