Growing a business is one of the hardest things to do from zero. You do not have an existing customer base to pad your monthly income. You do not have any followers on social media. Getting private equity requires a track record of success that you do not have yet. You have a lot of work to do, and your competitors probably have loyal customers and a sales and marketing department firing on all cylinders. In the words of Reid Hoffman:
An entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down.
If you want to grow your business quickly, you must set up the foundational growth strategies to attract new customers and grab market share. You must take on a long-term perspective when you start your business. Rapid growth will come if you are willing to commit to your business growth. You must be willing to roll up your sleeves and understand your customers' pain points intimately to have massive business success.
Understanding Your Market
Understanding the needs of the market is the most important thing when you start your business. What are the current pain points people are suffering from? When you understand what people are willing to pay for, you can develop products and services that deliver delight. Talk to any potential customers that are willing to talk to you. Gain insights from what they tell you.
Business success is dependent on customer success. When the customer is happy, you will succeed in the long run. A happy customer is willing to buy again. A happy customer will tell other people about your business. Learn how you can provide delight to customers to buy your products or services. Customers are the lifeblood of your business and will help you grow quickly if you commit to their success.
Create Super Valuable Content
The business that provides the most value is the business that wins. If you want to grow your business fast, start by delivering massive value to your potential customers. Content marketing is a great and cost-efficient way to start. Create content that provides great value to your potential customer. This shows that you understand your customers' needs. Then deliver it through your different channels, such as social media, YouTube, blogging, or emails.
In the words of Gary Vee, every company is a media company. You might not have a million dollars in the bank. But you can leverage the power of technology platforms to exponentially grow your brand. Awareness is a massive weapon, and it's building new stars every single day. Find a platform that leverages your hidden gifts. For example, I enjoy writing and am happy spending hours putting out written content every day. Blogging is a platform that comes easiest to me. I leverage it to bring organic traffic to all of my websites.
But say you are really good at video editing. Your online marketing strategy might be leveraging YouTube and TikTok to grab a massive audience. When you find the platform that is bringing you disproportionate content virality, double down on it for growing your small business. Getting started is easy. Staying consistent is hard. Awareness is the key to business marketing for an online business. It's time for business owners to adapt to the age of online marketing. Online marketing should no longer be considered a secondary option. It should be your primary marketing strategy going forth. It's time to grow your brand. People will flock to you if they resonate with your content.
Deliver Happiness
Every business should be in the happiness business. A happy customer becomes your brand ambassador. They will promote your business and raise your profile without you asking. Even customers who were initially angry will become a long-term loyal customer if your business does right by them. Have you ever been angry at a business but were turned around by a good customer service rep? How do you feel about them now? I bet you would probably do business with them again.
Stop trying to scale your business before you understand your customers. According to Paul Graham of Y Combinator, you should "do things that don't scale". When you start a business, you will have to recruit your first customers. Once you found your first potential customers, focus on delivering happiness to them. Learn what their needs are, and go above and beyond to make them happy. Once you've done this once, find ways to replicate that happiness every single time.
When your happy customer goes and tells people about you, you will have more opportunities to serve. At this point, you will need to become more creative to deliver the same happiness to every subsequent customer. It's similar to the concept of economies of scale. You will get better with every sale you make. The key is to build a business that provides so much value to the customer that they don't know what to do if you didn't exist anymore. Think about Google, or Amazon. Your life would be very different if they didn't exist today.
You can even implement customer loyalty programs to keep your customers engaged. As business owners, you need to execute on business ideas that make your business grow. Spend time and execute on strategies to keep your customers happy. There is nothing better for your brand than happy customers.
Final Words
Growing a business is not easy. It requires a lot of time, money, and effort to become one of the few business success stories. But if you are able to create a business profile that customers love, you will be rewarded with more opportunities and partnerships down the road. Start getting creative on how you can provide the most value in your industry. Focus on what you can do today to make customers happier. If you provide more value than anyone else, you are guaranteed to win in the long run.