It all started with an idea and now you are running a successful business. There are many challenges to running a business but one of the biggest challenges is deciding on the right time to grow your business. There are many factors to consider and often there are risks involved, but if you pull it off, you’ll be more successful than ever.
So what does it mean to grow your business?
Many people consider growing your business to be expanding to a new location but that isn’t always the case. Growing your business can mean many things, including sustained growth in customers or delivering new products or services. When you grow your business, it generally means you are going to need more POS terminals. Acumen Computer Systems specialises in providing growing businesses with custom POS solutions designed for greater business success.
What should I consider when growing my business?
It can be an exciting time, but it is imperative that you keep your business objectives in mind. Here are a few helpful tips when growing your business.
1. Know your customers
Customers drive business and without them you would not be in a position to consider growing your business. The very last thing you want to do is lose valuable customers. So get to know your customers, paint an exact picture of what they look like, how they shop and how they would benefit from your business growth. These key insights may even shape how you grow and market your business to future customers. For example, tradies who are time poor would benefit from an online store and order form that they can fill out on their phone.
2. Invest in professional development
As your business grows, you and your team will need to upskill to better your processes and be on top of technological changes. Professional development also allows you to grow skillfully and for your team to understand and have input on bigger business objectives. For example, a team-building day or short courses are just some of the ways you can upskill your employees.
3. Consider your operating costs
After getting to know your customers and investing time in professional development, you should evaluate your operating costs. Operating costs can be the biggest hindrance to growing your business. Try to keep operating costs down as much as possible by investing only in necessary equipment and services that will improve internal processes and customer satisfaction. For example, if you are opening a new store make sure to buy more POS terminals so you don’t end up short at your current location, but only buy as many as you need.
4. Seek to improve your customer service
When you get to know your customers, you will most likely also get to know what they like and dislike about your products, services and sales process. With this new information, you will be able to implement and refine processes that will better serve your customers and potentially attract more business.
5. Set data-based benchmarks
Business growth is a dream of every business and many businesses fail every year because they grow their business without insight into their customers, shopping behaviours, internal processes or operating costs.
Your POS system, financial statements, website traffic and social media analytics can give you insight into your current position, trends, employee close rates and what is doing well. These metrics can minimise the risks of growing your business and help you set quantifiable benchmarks to achieve before taking the next steps. It is important when you set these benchmarks that they are realistic and are reviewed regularly to help you stay on track.
6. Utilise your unique selling proposition (USP)
How are you different from your competitors? What makes your business so popular? Understanding your unique selling proposition can help you decide how to position your business for growth. A USP is not just about the price of your products or the location of your store, but how you position your product in the marketplace. By reminding your customers of your level of quality, superior product or customer service offering, you can re-engage your current customer base and can get prospective customers excited too.
Choose the right point of sales
Not every point of sales system is built the same and while it may be convenient to go to Officeworks and purchase a POS system off the shelf it may not be the best option for you. You need to consider how you operate and how you can streamline your processes to assist your business growth.
To get started you should:
- Outline the needs of the business: What do you need the POS system to do?
- Determine where, when and how you will use a point of sale system
- Consider what software you use: Xero, Magento, Linkly, Shopify etc.
- Decide what hardware you need: Receipt printer, terminals, tablets, scanners. How many of each do you need?
- Ensure that the system you are considering can keep your sales process smooth.
Are you growing your business?
If the answer is yes, consider Acumen POS. Acumen POS specialise in providing custom solutions for growing businesses. We are constantly looking for new ways to better our systems to enable greater customer satisfaction, retention and improved stock management. Our latest guide outlines how we help businesses succeed, to download it fill out the form below or get in contact with us by calling 1800 228 636.
