Business Growth resources is about more than just getting bigger. There are many ways for a person to determine how they want their business to grow. The question is are you considering them all?
Business growth is often assumed simply to be increasing annual sales and the size of your business. But it is much more than that. It is not just the concept of getting bigger. Many businesses view growth differently and it is important that you define the type of growth you are looking for. The message is that when your mind turns to business growth, resist the natural urge to think in terms of business growth meaning 'simply getting bigger'. You need to look beyond that.
Business leaders need to have a clear view of what growth means to their individual businesses. Even if your business is thriving, chances are it's not as successful or productive as you'd like it to be. You may desire to increase your client base, sales revenue, profitability and income. You may want to grow your marketing, selling and presentation skills for the future. You may want to add key pieces to your business infrastructure that you could not previously afford. Pieces such as particular workforce positions and employees or specialized equipment that can open up new opportunities in the future.
Your ability to persuade and influence others, your leadership capabilities and emotional intelligence are all factors in determining how you would like to grow. Growth can also be about meeting certain goals that have nothing to do with overall sales or size. What kind of work/life balance are you trying to achieve? Often a business's efforts to grow are wasted. This can be because they are not directed at building competitiveness or are short-term in their perspective, and fail to capture the benefits of compounding by building on what has gone before. Now that may seem a strange thing to say, because surely growing a business is always good and simply means getting bigger and bigger and bigger but it is not just about bigger.
Determining how you would like to grow means defining the strategy that will help your business to go, from markets and products to channels and market intelligence. Growth is of vital importance to all businesses. But you need to determine what type of growth it is you are looking for? The idea of business growth actually comprises many different ideas and concepts that you should constantly keep in mind. Growth and your personal goals are intertwined whether you realize it. They are very much the same thing and need to be considered in that light. Because one will ultimately help define the other.
Article Tags: Business Growth, Getting Bigger
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Your topical content ranks high at the Search Engines (ex., Google, Yahoo! MSN), attracting free, targeted (i.e., interested), open-to-you visitors. Basically, these future customers "meet you" at your site. These visitors are known as "Traffic." How well does SBI! drive "T"? Top 3%
Top 1-3% Traffic Building Results 1,000 randomly selected Site Build It! ("SBI!") sites were recently studied. At the time, there were over 56 million sites on the Web (the total number of sites is now already over 100 million!).
All statistics are according to Netcraft.com, a leading Net demographic firm, and according to Alexa.com, the leading traffic-measurement company. Netcraft tracks the Web hosting industry. Alexa is owned by Amazon.com and is powered by Microsoft Windows Live -- it measures traffic-popularity based on 10 million surfers.
Summary of Results 35% of SBI! sites ranked in the top 1% of all sites (i.e., higher than 99% of all sites on the Web). 53% were in the top 2%. 62% scored in the top 3%.
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Each time this study is conducted, SBI! owners perform better and better. They rank higher against other sites despite the increased "competition" from far more Web sites. Today, the "Top 1%" requires a ranking of better than 1,000,000. A greater percentage than ever of SBI! sites make it into the Top 1%.
As the years go by, as the Web becomes more and more competitive, as the number of sites grows (now over 100 million!), the natural and powerful process-and-tools of SBI! gets stronger.
Complete strangers develop trust and confidence in you. Why? You "PREsell" by OVERdelivering what they seek... relevant, original, information.
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Hilarious Video By SBI! Owner (more) "The Origin Of Webmaster"
You can get anything designed at 99Designs!Convert warm, willing-to-buy ("PREsold") visitors into income. Called "Monetizing," this is the easy part. But "M" cannot happen if you fail to first execute C T P. This is where 99% of small businesses fail.
C T P is the motor that drives "M." SBI! delivers the motor, and the Monetization.
Once you have your own PREsold traffic, you are in control. Blend in multiple streams of revenue, not just one. Diversify to maximize income, growth and stability. SHOW
Once you have your own PREsold traffic, you are in control. Blend in multiple streams of revenue, not just one. Diversify to maximize income, growth and stability.
Everything you need to get your business online from 99Designs!as you build your "brand of one." Then, and only then, are you ready to Monetize.
Monetization is the easy part -- it flows from a site with PREsold traffic the way electricity flows from a river through a dam.
And do not limit yourself. Too many small businesses start out thinking that they "want to be an affiliate," or sell hard goods through an "online store." Yes...
Do have a primary monetization model in mind -- but plan to diversify into multiple streams of revenue to maximize income, growth and stability. Take full advantage of the PREsold traffic you will develop with SBI!.
Here are just some of your Monetization options...
Now you can publish what you know and love... and monetize it. Together with a blend of affiliate programs and referral deals, AdSense anchors the generation of extra thousands of dollars per month to your online, niche-oriented SBI! business. No products, no customers, lots to time for other things.
Thinking about starting a work-from-home business? Run a genuine business, your business, from home, full- or part-time. No "biz opp" here -- this is real.
Offer a service related to your niche. Build a client base, whether clients are local (ex., magician for house parties) or global (ex., JAVA programmer). (Or start a completely new service business.)
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Add hundreds-to-thousands of dollars per month to your diversified monetization plan, without having a product of your own -- no warehousing, packaging, shipping, etc. And if you do sell a product of your own, simply choose merchants that complement your product line.
This model is as classic as business itself... get paid a referrer or finder's fee by an offline business for finding a customer (or a "lead") for it. The Net, though, makes it far more cost-effective.
Existing Online eBusinesses/eCommerce Sites Already have an existing online business or e-commerce sites? Do you need an ongoing stream of free, targeted traffic... motivated, interested buyers? Use SBI! as a traffic-funnel, for a tiny fraction of the cost of your primary site.
Forget those spammy online lead-generators. Imagine if you could build your own unique site that attracted and PREsold warm leads to call YOU all day long? No more "you chasing them." That is exactly what you and SBI! can achieve together.
Put eBay to work for you, instead of vice-versa. Use them as a supplemental source of income to auction a product that relates to your theme. Especially useful for local businesses or vendors that sell hard goods, and even for service-sellers. And obviously, for those who want to start an online auction business.
( If you own an offline business with local clientele, a Web site is a must. Use it to grow your business locally and, in many cases, to extend your market globally (yes, you!)
Your design work is sharp and creative. Your clients like your sites. But they ask... "So how do I get traffic?" It's time to convert your satisfied clients into raving fans, while simultaneously boosting productivity by 1000%.
Bottom Line? Start at the beginning... CONTENT.
Do not start at the end... MONETIZATION.
So many people spend time and energy setting up a shopping cart and a merchant account or some other way of "collecting the money." That's putting the (shopping) cart before the e-horse of PREsold traffic.
MONETIZATION comes last... it's the final result of doing everything else (C T P) correctly.
The easiest part of any small business site is mixing-and-matching the most appropriate blend of Monetization models into your traffic-generating site.
The key is to eliminate "offline thinking." Recognize the fundamental reality of how people use the Web. Online, people look for Content.
Start there. Deliver Content, which builds Traffic, which is PREsold. Then and only then, are you ready to Monetize.
IMPORTANT Most small businesses think of themselves as "being" only one monetization model... they sell hard goods (or e-goods) or they display Google AdSense ads or they offer professional services or they are affiliates, or-or-or. Instead, think "and-and-and."
For the owner of a small business, experiencing explosive growth can be exciting. It can be the beginning of a new era for the business, and it can solidify the company’s existence in the sometimes brutal world of commerce.
In the same breath of excitement, though, massive growth can provide new challenges as entrepreneurs strive to keep up with it. This article details how three very different types of women entrepreneurs may respond to massive growth – and how their reactions may affect their businesses.
Are you prepared for explosive growth? What will you do when it happens?
Does every entrepreneur seek growth opportunities? Growth can mean more customers, more income, or more opportunities to explore new ideas. Although exciting, growth also brings its challenges, and can spiral out of control if it's not handled properly, causing a setback as big as the potential expansion
. Our research shows that the five types of female entrepreneurs have very different attitudes toward business growth (some want it, some don't!) and each will respond to growth opportunities differently. This article will examine the attitudes and reactions of Jane Dough, Merry Jane, and Go Jane Go.
Jane Dough is an entrepreneur who enjoys running her business and makes good money. She is comfortable and determined in buying and selling, which may be why she’s five times more likely than the average female business owner to hit the million dollar mark. Jane Dough is clear in her priorities and may be intentionally and actively growing an asset-based or legacy business. It is estimated that 18% of women fall in the category of Jane Dough.
Because Jane Dough is business-minded and pragmatic, she probably has a plan in place for handling growth. In fact, business growth is something she’s striving for, with most Jane Doughs saying they want to grow significantly within the next couple of years.
As a result, she has no doubt delegated individual tasks to specific team members, putting her team and her business in an ideal position to take advantage of the appropriate opportunities that come her way. She has a system – and it’s in place and ready to roll.
Although Jane Dough's systematic approach is one of her many strengths, there is a flip side to high levels of delegation. Sometimes Jane Dough relies too much on the system. She moves quickly to fuel her business growth, so she may not always be in touch with what's happening within every functional area.
When large opportunities come knocking while Jane Dough is distracted, weaker parts of the system can break down.
The solution: When massive growth arrives - and it will - a Jane Dough entrepreneur should gather her team for a quick check-in, making sure everyone and every system is aligned and ready to do its part in creating success.
In doing so, she'll make sure resources are allocated appropriately and can create plans to strengthen any weak spot
Find a Designer You'll Love - Designer SearchA Merry Jane tends to be “building a business on the side”—in addition to a day-job, or a focus on family or other pursuits. She doesn’t have a high personal income from her business, but she also tends to be working less than 40 hours a week, and she loves the freedom her business affords her.
Because Merry Jane's focus is more on time freedom than on "big money," major growth opportunities can be a daunting proposition. While many women in this group dream of a day when they land the mega-customer, Merry Jane does not. Although many know they are capable of building a much larger business, now is not the time. During interviews, when asked what they would do if faced with the chance to take on a big new account, most quickly came to the conclusion that unless they could manage the account in their own way and time, they would let the opportunity pass them buy rather than disrupt their lives.
However, many Merry Janes admit they would like their business to be more profitable, wanting more money without much additional work. Therefore, when faced with a growth opportunity, Merry Jane can consider several options:
* She can hire someone to take over some of the more mundane, day-to-day business chores, like bookkeeping and responding to customer e-mails, freeing more of her time to pursue the new business without taking up more time?
* She can pursue the new opportunity at higher rates, therefore increasing her profit. This may mean letting go of less profitable customers or delegating their care to someone else.
* Or, she can stand firm, turning the immediate opportunity down, knowing that at some point in the future, she may have more time available for new customers.
Whatever she decides, Merry Jane should stay true to the reasons she loves her business now so that she doesn't add undue stress and time-pressure to her already busy life.
Go Jane Go is passionate about her work, and has no problem marketing and selling herself, so she has plenty of clients—but she’s struggling to keep up with demand. She may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she’s eager to make an impact on the world and may really struggle saying “no”. Because she wants to “say yes” to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged and feeling guilty about neglecting herself and possibly others who are important to her.
Overall, most Go Jane Go women don't seek out growth opportunities because they are already fairly busy. However, when an opportunity crosses their path, they will feel compelled to "make it work somehow." Go Jane Go truly wants to help those who need her products or services, so it is difficult for her to turn them away. And because she's excellent at multi-tasking, this Jane may underestimate the time that will be required or may justify sacrificing personal time in order to help someone else.