1. Connect With Your Customers

Brainstorm ways to connect more with your customers, then implement those strategies. Custom emails, follow up phone calls to say “Thanks for ……”, customer service training for your staff, appreciation day(s), valued customer cards/discounts/coupons, etc, etc, etc…business is about making connection with people. The more you find ways to connect with your customers the more your business will grow, period.

2. Know Your Target Market and Reach Them

Spend 10 minutes thinking about targeted advertising for your business, then put a plan in place to reach that market. Already done this? Analyse the effectiveness of your targeted campaign, and tweak where needed. Use programs like Slack and MS Project to organise yourself and your team, and boost productivity.

3. Give Away The House

If you offer a product or service you think your customers cannot live without, give it away! That’s right, if you offer something you feel is so good your customers will be hooked the minute they try it then give it away to them for a period of time. Make a great smelling soap? Give out freebies. Offer consulting services? Make your first consultation free. Sell the next greatest gadget? Run a contest where the winners all get one. You can never lose money giving away an indispensable product for a period of time. If you’re right and your customers love the product/service, they’ll be back for more and be happy pay for it. However, if your products or services are marginal you will never see those customers again.

4. Know How to Market

Commit to learning one new thing about marketing for small businesses. All business come down to two things, marketing your product and service, then making a connection with the customers you marketed to. Learn marketing techniques, and use them DAILY in your small business. Most businesses come down to a numbers game, I believe most all of you produce a great product or provide a great service. The only thing stopping you from breaking your business wide open is you don’t get your product/service in front of enough people. Fix that!

5. Do Something!

Do something, anything, to promote and grow your business. As simple as it sounds, one of the best ways to boost your business is to do something today. If everyday you do something for your business, no matter how small it may seem, the effect those “something” have will compound over time. The only way your small business stalls, is if you stop actively moving it forward.

What are you going to do to boost your business today?