As a CEO, a business owner, or an entrepreneur nowadays, it is not uncommon to feel like you’re stuck in a rut and not able to level up your business. If you feel your sales are diminishing, retaining employees or finding new ones is becoming a challenge. Your brand value is tapering off, maintaining quality customer relationships is becoming more of a burden, or you’re trying to sell your product or service in a competitive market, then here’s some advice to level up your business.
Just like in video games, when you continue to get better in business-you reach another level and while you don't stop having challenges or problem, they just become different. At CBNation, this month we will focus on ways that you can level up your business.
Get Online
The world is going virtual and it can be hard to grow your business if you are not online. If your business is a Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) or a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) brand, maybe launch an online store to engage more customers. Also, make it a point to stay active on social media and other “ingredients” and digital marketing platforms to build your media empire.
Conversely, if you’re already online or run an online-only business, capture customer attention using multiple channels and ingredients such as email campaigns, an attractive and easy-to-use website with SEO, blogs, short videos, webinars, surveys, social media posts, etc.
More importantly, remember that pure selling is no longer the way to sell successfully. Instead, share your knowledge, the way you work, industry insights, authority position, market trends as well as success and failure stories with your target audience. After all, building trust is the best policy when it comes to business relationships and it often leads to sales.
Manage Your Time Effectively
Setting smart goals and priorities goes a long way. When facing a time crunch or workforce shortage, you can depend on the extremely effective and long revered approach to time management. Remember, like Gresh says on the podcast–“It's not the number of hours it's how you leverage them”. One of these ways is The Eisenhower Matrix. This technique helps you divide your tasks into 4 categories:
- Urgent and Important (Prioritize)
- Not Urgent but Important (Schedule)
- Urgent but Not Important (Delegate)
- Not Important and Not Urgent (Eliminate)
Diversify
As a business grows, it faces risks like redundancy and slacking. To avoid such obstacles while keeping an eye on costs and maximizing profits, think of new areas of business you can venture into and expand your brand. If you’re big enough, you can also make strategic acquisitions or merge with new businesses and partners.
Revisit Your Business Goals Regularly
A robust business plan and up-to-date goals help keep your business and team on track. Your business plan should contain both long-term and short-term goals – quarterly, semi-annual, and annual. Be a “know-it-all” in terms of your business numbers and metrics, identify your pain points or what works and what does not work, and make sure you know and are clear about where your company is going. Make sure to continuously analyze the market and track your progress, and don’t be afraid to tweak or revise your targets with changing times and needs to avoid setbacks and build a loyal customer and stakeholder base.
Leverage Technology
Make effective use of modern-day technology and CEO Hacks, such as apps and software, to automate as many regular tasks as possible, e.g., inventory management, accounting, book-keeping, etc. Doing so frees up manpower for creative and non-mundane functions and keeps your employees stress-free.
Collaborate, Ask, and Share
Don’t try to walk the path alone and never be afraid to ask for help. It’s okay to not be the expert sometimes. Form an advisory board if you need one. Attend networking events, business conferences, meet-and-greets, join our CBNation community, etc. This not only helps you find the right professionals but also helps you gain customers. Just be willing to build a tribe of industry experts, counselors, mentors, guides, peers, and even good friends. Be open to ideas and input, celebrate together, and enjoy what you do. Remember “iron sharpens iron.”
Lastly, the most important business advice is to manage your cash flow well and comply with all the industry regulations for your specific business area.
There's so much that will be covered this month about leveling up and while we covered some of the ways you can level up, be sure to check back with us throughout the month.