Article Contributed by Ved Raj
Taking your startup to the next level can be daunting and frustrating to say the least.
Constantly evolving and taking your business to the next level is very important. The right strategies for growth and evolution may not be the same for every business model, but there are some ground rules for all.
Evaluation
One has to carefully evaluate the exact stage of the business lifecycle . The planned activities must be compared with what has been achieved so far. Analyze the revenue levels achieved vis-a-vis planned targets. This must also be studied along with the level of customer satisfaction and retention that the product is getting. Studying the business plan again, will help you understand the real issues your business is facing in the current scenario.
More Aggressive Marketing
Analyse your social media presence to understand the kind of audience you are reaching with your current level of activities. Re-work and expand the level of activities that need to be done to get more relevant conversions for your business. Do create a blog, if you don’t have one already. Creating quality content is an ongoing marketing activity for a growing startup.
Optimize Your Team
Don’t work with teams who are under-performing. A good IT outsourcing company is very useful in helping find the right sort of remote talent for your business. The technology maintenance and upgradation part for the business can be easily outsourced in a cost effective manner.
Tax Optimization
Analyse the taxes you’re paying in your business and understand all the deductions that you can get and are not availing, as of now. Also make sure that your business is not in a tax heavy location. You can change your business location if an alternate location provides more tax savings.
Customer Reviews
Once your business has reached a certain level, there are many satisfied customers and users. These can be leveraged to improve the image of the business and to get more business.
Solicit reviews and testimonials from your happy customers and promote them on your website and social platforms to build credibility.
Data Mining
Acquiring new customers and retaining the existing ones is essential to every business. Taking the right steps to acquire new database and executing the right email campaigns for your target audience will help in improving the rate of conversions.
Explore Sources Of Funds
Funds are continuous requirement for every business. Building the right expertise and reputation for your business is useful in attracting venture capitalists and partners to invest on new marketing and expansion initiatives.
Manage Your Cash Flow Better
Getting your payments on time and managing cash flow better are the most important aspects of your growing startup. No matter how much profit your business makes, if the clients are not paying up on time, its something to be really worried about. Cash must be spent judiciously to ensure a healthy business cash flow in every period. Timely payment are a must too.
Creation and Optimization Of Processes
A growing startup needs to create the right processes to be able to build a bigger enterprise. Training employees to collaborate and work in a team is an important aspect as well. A startup usually does not have too many processes. But, as it grows, defining systems and processes becomes essential for better growth and publicity.
Setting New Targets
Every startup must renew the zeal to move to the next level. This may happen every 6 months, one year or longer, depending upon the speed of business growth. Setting new targets becomes imperative, the moment there is a level of saturation.
Taking your startup to the next level requires unmatched motivation. A business leader must think innovatively and act promptly. These traits will enable him to overcome all the hurdles to growth.
About the Author
Ved Raj is a business enthusiast. He writes about startups, remote teams and outsourcing. He is working as a Marketing Manager with ValueCoders, a leading provider of remote development teams.