Go on growing, stop you die

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Writuparna Kakati | 10 Mar, 2009
Can you remember the early days of your business? There was a dream, a business idea and an uphill battle to fight against. Gone are the days but memories are still alive! Since then you have come a long way to give your business wings of success.

So, now what? You're drawing handsome incomes from your lucrative cynosure. Then, why grow ? Why should you double your strain to double the profit? The answer is simple - no success is permanent. If your business stops growing, it can easily be destroyed by the avalanche of change - and thousands are, for example, by the current global economic crisis.

As a business owner, you need to plan properly and develop a growth-oriented edge in everyone involved in your business so that it can successfully continue its growth both in good times and bad. Find below some useful tips to go on growing-

Are you part of the problem: It is always wise to start with self. Do you no more believe that growth is good and non-growth is bad. It's not too late, no matter whether your business is running growthless, at a loss or breaking even, there is always an opportunity for growth. Only what you need to do is prepare strategies, refine and empower your resources, and focus more on customer satisfaction.

What about your resources: You are in business for a couple of years and you need not probably worry now about such things as the factory premise, raw materials, machinery or technology. But is your workforce is okay? Plus, what are you doing for your workforce? Your employees depend on your business for their livelihood while you depend on them for the essential contribution to the business. How well are you using this valuable asset? As a business evolves, its workforce needs to be upgraded and motivated through ongoing training programmes and also by the use of pay systems.

Continue market research: Are you lagging behind your competitors? Are their management, technology, products, sales and marketing drive, and innovative approaches are far better than that of yours? Small businesses often make horrible mistakes neglecting to continue their market research. But in contrast, a thorough understanding of the market is very important at any stage of a business. The industry changes and the market as well. It is important to make adjustments if necessary.

Refresh your marketing message: At some point of time, you might be very successful with some marketing strategy. But this does not mean that the same strategy will be equally effective now or in the future. You need to fine tune your marketing message so that your customers do not lose interest in your products and services. Try to analysis why they have stop purchasing from you and adjust your sales message if it is required to do so.

Promotional & advertising activities: During the early stage of your business, you laid great emphasis on advertising and promotional activities. But now you are an established business, everyone knows your brand. So, why shouldn't you cut your ad budget? Absolutely a wrong idea; when you cut your ad budget, you are cutting in the wrong place. No matter whether your business is keeping well or not, advertising and promotional activities are always a great boost to a business. Print, online or new media - make sure that you make the best of all of these communication tools.

Change is inevitable- everything around you is changing - and you need to change yourself to survive. Success is not an end but an ongoing process, therefore, growth should be continuous. Running a business without direction can lead to a random series of failures. It is why planning for business growth is important. It might not be able to cure all that ails your business but it will certainly show you a clear direction for the future. To win you've got to stay in the game.