Entrepreneurship is neither a SCIENCE nor an ART. It is a PRACTICE – Peter Drucker
Of course, taking a business from 0 to 1 takes lots of effort and smart work, but growing the business from 1 to 100 is where the real game starts. Business requires vision, mentorship, management, leadership and many more, to grow consecutively from 1 and above. Business might be at its highest point or even at its lowest point in this process, but can not stop working, its operations, future plans, existing projects etc have to be consistent to be fulfilled. To make the process of business growth more efficient and goal oriented, here are 10 business growth hacks that every entrepreneur should adapt.
Table of Contents
- Entrepreneur Pyramid
- E + M = S
- ROI Marketing
- Slow Money & Fast Money
- Smart Purchasing
- Build to Sell
- Use Automation
- Have a Vision
- Ask your Customers
- Establish a friendly work environment
- Don’t stop Learning
Entrepreneur Pyramid
Before getting to hacks, you should know at what level of the entrepreneur pyramid you are, and in which direction of entrepreneurial level you need to work on.
Source: Google Images
The bottom level of the pyramid comprises Solo-preneur at 80% which run profitable business. This is where all entrepreneurs start like small business owners, service provider businesses, businesses running from home.
Next comes the middle level of Entrepreneur at 15%, which works to become Investor-preneur. They are in the process of growing their own businesses, making their businesses well established in the market.
Last is Investor-preneur at 5% which are well established entrepreneurs, opening their multiple income streams. These are entrepreneurs which come with expertise in certain segments of business like marketing, finance, supply chain and many more.
10 Hacks for business growth are:
Entrepreneur + Management = Success [E + M = S]
Source: Google Images
At each step of growing, business moves forward on the ladder of success. Solely, efficient management won’t help the business to succeed, but a leader, an entrepreneur who keeps its eye on market trends and opportunities, and takes the risk of investing in it, will surely help. A management who works towards the business goals with concise and precision will help the entrepreneur to focus on the market effectively. Hence, entrepreneurs in order to get successive growth, should focus on achieving efficient management first, then on its responsibility of keeping its eye on market trends and opportunities for investments.
ROI Marketing/ Direct Response Marketing
When business is in its early stage, marketing efforts [expenses] do not provide greater outcomes [customer return]. Entrepreneurs can not stop marketing, but can effectively use marketing budgets by knowing the ROI of marketing. So to know the return on marketing [investment], entrepreneurs should use the formula Net Profit / Cost of marketing x 100. By using the formula, entrepreneurs will know the ratio of return [profit] from certain costs of marketing. As ratio increases, the ROI of marketing will be more and vice versa. Entrepreneurs should make this ritual of calculating ROI after each marketing activity/ campaign, that will help them to plan the next marketing campaign with higher ROI.
Slow Money & Fast Money
Source: Balloon Artist College
To create wealth out of business is another complex task for entrepreneurs. To simplify it, entrepreneurs should focus on getting higher cash flow in the business. Follow the rule of Investing 50% of fast money in slow money [assets]. Cash flow is known as fast money, as it provides immediate returns, while assets are known as slow money, as they provide return after certain years of investing. To create wealth out of business, invest 50% of cash flow in business in assets like hiring experts, plant & machinery, technology etc. This will also create multiple streams of earning for entrepreneurs apart from building wealth of business.
Smart Purchasing
In the process of growing the business, entrepreneurs might do partnerships or acquire a business. Whatever the entrepreneur chooses, focus should be to gain maximum advantage for the business. The entrepreneur should make a list of advantages that the business would be getting from choosing partnership or acquiring a business. Question is not whether you choose partnership or acquisition, the question is with which business, the entrepreneur is doing partnership or acquisition to gain maximum advantage. Hence, the focus of entrepreneurs should be on smart purchasing i.e gaining maximum advantages for the business with one move.
Build to sell
Source: Google Images
Entrepreneurs should work with the mindset of selling the business, even if entrepreneurs do not have intentions of doing so. This mindset will help entrepreneurs to make every part of business so strong and efficient, that everyone in the market is ready to buy the business at any cost. Think of selling the business to Google, Tesla, Tata or any giant; at what amount the entrepreneur will sell; what makes the giant business so eager to buy; etc. this mindset will definitely change the thinking of the entrepreneurs. It will lead to constantly checking the database, making the management more efficient, keeping accuracy in accounts, focusing on SWOT analysis and many more. Thus, leading to effective working of the business towards its growth.
Use Automation
In today’s innovative technological era, for every business operation, a technology is available. Whether it’s finance or marketing or customer service everything can be done through technology, businesses just need to hire experts that can build and work with that technology. This will avoid minor errors in data and will help businesses to manage complex databases into interactive results, which will further help entrepreneurs in decision making. Instead of challenging the automation, entrepreneurs should work with this automation in order to save time from repetitive tasks and focus on research and development of existing products, launching new products and finding new opportunities.
Have a Vision
Entrepreneurs might have heard this statement ‘Have a Vision’ many times, but what does it mean? Vision is what a business is seeking to become in the future. It’s more than just a goal, vision works as a guiding principle that provides direction and purpose to the business. It also motivates employees and stakeholders in the business, by guiding strategic plans and business’s values to them. If there is no vision in the business, make it one right away. Vision should be clear, concise, future-oriented, inspiring, motivating, realistic yet ambitious and should be aligning with the core business goals.
Ask your Customers
Knowing the business customers will help the business to grow with less obstacles. Many times even after researching the market, entrepreneurs do not get unique ideas to launch a product, in that case business should ask their customers which product they will definitely purchase, if the business had been selling. Not only that, asking what innovations/ changes that should be done in existing product; taking suggestions for what gift should be given to its employees in festivals etc, will keep the customers engaged in the business. Even the customers will also feel their importance in the business, so keep a habit of asking the customers.
Establish a Friendly Work Environment
Source: Google Images
Being a leader in the business, will always keep the entrepreneurs in the top management level of business. Naturally, this will create a fearful flow of communication. Entrepreneurs need to break that work environment, not all the time entrepreneurs and employees’ ideas or point of view will align. Instead of asking employees what they think, create an environment where they approach entrepreneurs and fearlessly have conversations about what they think. Not only this will provide a new thinking approach, but also a loyal workforce who will not leave the business in difficult circumstances also. Thus, instead of speaking for the friendly work environment approach, prove with the actions that a friendly work environment does exist.
Don’t stop Learning
Source: Google Images
You might have heard that famous quote ‘Learning is a lifelong process’. Entrepreneurs should never feel ashamed for asking their fellow workers about something they do not know or appreciate them if they know better than you. Entrepreneurs do not need to know each and everything at a certain point of time, sometimes delegating the responsibilities and power will not make entrepreneurs look incapable but a leader who values other’s expertise and talent. Learning from failures should be the favourite part of entrepreneurs, instead of following traditional methods of thinking. Entrepreneurs fail when they take risks to try new approaches or something they are not familiar with, so do not stop learning.
Conclusion
These 10 business growth hacks will not just give a growth boost to a certain level, but will help the business grow till its existence in the market. These hacks are all flexible enough to develop themselves in various different kinds of business and according to level of business. These hacks will not make business growth quicker or easier, but will definitely help in the process of growing the business with a little bit of ease.
