How To Grow Your Small Business in 2021

So you are interested in how to grow your small business. The roll-out of COVID vaccinations globally means that rules regarding social distancing and self-isolation have started to ease. As these rules start to ease, companies have more freedom in terms of, what they can do, and how they can do it. This being said, 2021 is the year of opportunity, and small businesses will see a major spike in the months to come.

That’s why we created this blog to help guide small business owners in the right direction for growth.

1. Understand Your Customer

Do you know that 76% of marketers fail to use behavioural data for online ad targeting?

It is often a common mistake that business owners focus too much on competition and forget about their customers. The customer needs to be at the core of your business. All products and services should reflect their needs and interests.

Some key areas of demographics to focus on include.

• Age Range
• Gender Identity
• Salary
• Location
• Employment
• Marital Status

Once these key areas have been addressed, it makes it easier for businesses to develop products/services that meet the current demands of their selected market.

2. Improve Customer Service

Providing your customers with exceptional customer service is a way of making them feel special and appreciated by your business. In addition to making your customer feel appreciated, consumers are 71% more likely to recommend a brand to others if they are happy with the service they received. The main goal with customer service is to resolve any issues your customers might have by making them feel valued; This is achieved by addressing these issues straight away.

3. Develop Your Social Media

Utilising social media to its maximum ability can be quite challenging but, once achieved, holds unmeasurable success. Currently, 53.6% of the world’s population has a social media account, and being able to access this large amount of people for free is a bargain! Some ways to develop your business on social media include:

• Reading / Replying to Comments.
• Create an Online Store / Home.
• Interact with Influencers.
• Inform Your Customers About Discounts / Events.
• Motivate Customers To Buy More.
• Get Your Name Out There.
• Show Off Your Fancy Certifications; You Just Achieved With Global QA.

This list can go on for ages, but these are the main key areas to build a foundation.

4. What Are Your Competitors Doing?

As a small business owner, it is key that you learn from mistakes and not necessarily only your own. Your competitors are in the same sector as you and share a similar target market. You can use this to your advantage. You can analyse what approach your competitors have taken and what factors were successful, and what not so much. Subscribing to their newsletters or attending their events, and keeping a close eye on their social media platforms is a good way to keep ahead of the curve and see the current trends. In addition, there are many online companies such as Sprout Social and SEMrush, which can do more of a deep analysis into what your competitors’ strategies are.

5. Get Certified

Have you heard of Conscious consumerism? This is the idea that consumers are now more interested in where their products are coming from and what type of company they are purchasing them from. This type of consumer will become the norm soon as many more are starting to “Look at the label” in a sense before making their decisions.

A simple way a business can satisfy this form of a consumer is through appropriate certification. For example, a hospitality company with an ISO 14001 certification would imply that it is taking all measures to reduce its overall waste production and is making an effort to look after the environment.

Not only will certifications help you to draw in more consumers, but they will also help you to increase your company reputation and credibility. Alongside building confidence amongst customers because they believe they are making an eco-friendlier decision.

To learn more about certifications and grow your small business, get in touch.