Running a business can be very rewarding. However, at some points in time, it can also be frustrating. One of the most frustrating aspects of business is the dreaded plateau. That point where growth slows to a halt and no matter what you do, you can’t seem to bring your business to the next level. Here are a few tips to help you break that plateau and bring growth back to your business.
Tip #1: Ensure That Your Marketing Efforts Attract The Right Customers
One of the big problems that many small business owners face is attracting the wrong customers. In fact, millionaire entrepreneur, Russell Ruffino, points this out quite often. In fact, in this podcast with Russell Ruffino, he explains that marketing efforts that attract customers based on price will often bring in droves of bargain shoppers. Unfortunately, businesses don’t make large margins off of these shoppers, leading to more time being spent on low-value clients.
To combat this, it’s important to look at your marketing efforts and fine-tune them to the types of customers that you want to attract. In the process, using social media to ensure that you are targeting these customers will likely bring in higher margins, allowing you to scale upward.
Tip #2: Automate Where Possible
Technology has come a long way over the years, creating several opportunities for automation. The truth of the matter is that if you’re spending time sending out marketing emails by hand, gathering leads, or even responding to common questions in chat, that time can be better spent elsewhere.
Take some time to go through your business process to figure out what may be able to be automated. Once you have an idea of the processes that can be automated, dig in to find services that fit the bill. This may open hours of time per day, giving you the opportunity to focus on customer retention and customer acquisition.
Tip #3: Look For Inefficiencies In Your Process
If you want your business to grow to the best of its abilities, it’s important that it runs efficiently. After all, if you are taking more time than necessary to complete a task, saving this time could open the door to an opportunity to use it elsewhere to grow your business.
With that said, it may be time to audit your business process for inefficiencies. Any duplicate tasks, tasks that can be done faster if you have a different tool, or unnecessary tasks that can be eliminated could open up valuable time that can be used to grow your business, rather than sustain within the plateau.
Final Thoughts
Plateaus in business can be overwhelmingly frustrating for business owners. However, you don’t have to sit back and accept a plateau. By following the tips above, you will have the tools to find out where time can be saved and better clients can be attracted. Ultimately, this should lead to a broken plateau and an opportunity to grow!
