Tips on how to expand your business (Part 2)
Continuing with our theme of Expanding your Business and what you need to watch out for, here are some further tips and guidance
Ability to change with the times: The ability to recognize opportunities and be flexible enough to adapt is crucial to surviving and growing. Learn how to wear multiple hats, respond nimbly and quickly. Develop new areas of expertise and invest in training of your employees in new skills and techniques. Create a cohesive, compelling and clear vision of what your business will look like in 1, 5 and 10 years’ time and share it with your employees. Let’s face it they are the ones who will make it happen with your direction and guidance or they could be the hindrance to growth and profitability. Pay careful attention to what they are saying and doing.
Financial management: Successful businesses know their numbers intimately particularly their financials. Businesses that fail are poor at budgeting and forecasting. They take on too much debt and are poor at managing their cash flow. Pay strict attention to the financial management of the business, keep careful records of all money coming in and going out (Receivables and Payables), setting and monitoring budgets and sticking to them. Be prepared for unexpected expenditure and additional costs over and above what you budgeted for. Make sure you keep enough reserve cash to carry you through tough times, lack of sales and seasonal slowdowns and don’t try to run the business on cash vapour – it just won’t work!
Deliver great service: Exceptional customer service and overall employee professional will help build your business. Make sure your employees place a premium on customer service. Develop systems and processes for how tasks should be accomplished, and create internal controls to monitor them. Recognise and reward staff for doing a great job creating a ripple effect across the whole business. Customers who are treated professionally, politely and in a friendly manner will reward you with their loyalty, referrals and future business.
Effective marketing: Customers do business with companies who are visible for all the right reasons and who they easily and quickly identify with. Successful marketing orientated companies interrupt the conversation going on in the prospects head which is all about ‘the problem they have that they don’t want and the solution they want that they don’t have’. The companies that interrupt and engage with prospects at the right level by educating and providing them with a solution to their problem will always win. Advertising and promoting your business through online marketing, social media, email, local search, and more is probably the best way of reaching your market.
There has never been a better time to expand your business even with the great Brexit unknown. Ireland is an agile and optimistic country but understanding how to manage debt is important for all business leaders regardless of the size and success rates of their company, it’s especially important for start ups and new small businesses to have a good grasp on how to expand their business. SME businesses fail due to not properly tackling their finances and overspending before they have a positive cash flow likewise poor credit management controls add to the problem.
Oxmantown Commercial can help the SME Business by providing much needed cash flow and funding options that allow you to focus on growing your business – we specialise in working with SME Business Owners and start-ups providing flexible cash flow solutions – why not give us a call today on +353 1 230 0866 or e mail info@oxmantowncommercial.ie
