5 THINGS TO DO TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

In the past year I have had the privilege of visiting over 300 small business owners, from start-ups to 5 employees. My question has been “What are the biggest issues you have with your business?” Not surprising, over 92% of the answers were “I need to increase my business”.

Business owners are constantly being bombarded with options on how to get new business. Nationwide a variety of networking options have been introduced, all being short term meetings with a lot of business card exchanges. Websites and social media are also being promoted as a “cure all” for generating new business. Other suggestions include direct mail campaigns as well as e-mail campaigns.

In another study, I learned that in many cases the majority of existing clients came when the business owners had an opportunity to share their stories, one-on-one, or when they had an extended time period during which a presentation was made to a group.

Unless your business is delivering a product/service that is relatively inexpensive and with a low profit margin, requiring a very large volume, the following is what I consider to be the most effective method for growing your business in a hurry.

Being an advocate for spending 40% of your work day in marketing, which equates to 3.2 hours per day, take two of those hours every day and do the following five things:

• Day 1: Visit with two people, in person, for one hour each and share stories.
• Day 2: Visit with two people, in person, for one hour each and share stories
• Day 3: Visit with two people, in person, for one hour each and share stories
• Day 4: Visit with two people, in person, for one hour each and share stories
• Day 5: Visit with two people, in person, for one hour each and share stories.

There is a selection process as to who you meet with. Ideally you should select people that work with your target market or are in need of your product or service. There are multiple ways for setting appointments: social media sites such as LinkedIn, business sites such as Alignable are also excellent sources. Use your data base and ask them to set up a meeting with someone that meets your criteria. If you are persistent you will find those 2 daily appointments.

Do this consistently for three months. During that time, you will have met 120 new contacts which I know will benefit your bottom line.

LIFE IS ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU MEET!

Advice and tips by Nick Petra – CFP, Mentor, and founder of BizQuack and StrategicDuck