Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who have a great idea and have the guts to pursue it. If you have managed to get your small business off the ground, it means that you have the makings of a successful entrepreneur already. So, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back! It takes guts, hard work, and dedication to get where you are now.
But as a driven entrepreneur, it’s never really enough, is it? Now, you have your sights set on higher goals to boost your business to the next level and, by now, you’re probably done setting your goals for the year.
If you haven’t, the good news is that it’s not too late for you to start planning for a successful year! You just need to really sit down and allocate enough time to map out your strategy and plan the tasks necessary to get things done.
Here are 3 effective strategies that we have implemented, which has reaped great results in boosting our business in the past years:
1 – Establish Your Brand
Before you start mapping out your sales targets for the new year, you first need to stop, look at the mirror and remember who you are, why you are in business, and what you stand for. You need to first establish your identity – your brand.
“A brand is more than just a name, a logo design or a snazzy strapline – it is everything that encompasses your organisation and helps to set you apart from others,” explains Amanda of The Branding Journal.
While many business owners think that this is something that they can postpone until later, the reality is that you need it NOW more than ever.
People resonate with things and people that they can understand. Yes, they may need your products and services but the determining factor for their purchase decisions will always be guided by their emotions. People will always transact with brands and products that they trust.
Proper branding will introduce them to your business and what products and services you offer. It will also help them understand what makes you different from the rest and why they should put their faith in you with their purchase.
It will also help you in determining your message, which is crucial for the success of your marketing campaign. Proper branding will help you create the right message and tell your story in a way that your audience will resonate with it.
2 – Improve Your Online Presence
There are 3.5 billion people connected to the internet today, 2.3 billion of which are active on different social media platforms. These are the number of people that you can reach with your business if you start thinking of your digital marketing campaign.
“You need to harness the right channels that will help you dominate the digital landscape,” shares Anson Chen, owner of Easy4Host, a web development and digital marketing company based in New York. “Social media is not enough. You need a good website and CRM to capture and convert your leads.”
Maintaining a website is important to establish your brand and reputation. Whenever you have something important to say, you would want people to hear it from you, right? That’s what a website is for. It’s where people should be going to read and understand more about your business, products, and services.
A website is also important for your long-term goals. You need to give people an opportunity to connect with you directly or order from you directly without having to go through social media platforms. This will also give you the opportunity to be a key influencer in your chosen niche or industry.
3 – Engage Your Customers
You may be wondering why we didn’t focus on good customer service. That’s because good customer service is something that all businesses should have. It’s a requirement, so it goes without saying that you need to give your customers good customer service at all times.
Customer Engagement is about going above and beyond your customer service strategy. It’s about developing a relationship with your customers and your target audience through the various communication channels that you have in place.
“Your customer interaction should be like a handshake, where both sides feel equally appreciated,” explains Sarah Johnson of DreamGrow.
While many businesses use social media to improve their brand and audience reach, they fail to leverage on its potential to engage and interact with their audiences. It is the one thing that distinguishes a successful social media campaign from the rest.
Keep Learning, Keep Growing
Although we have more advice that we’d like to share to help you grow your wholesale business this year, we needed to keep it short and focus on the ones that have made a tremendous impact on our business and for other successful businesses.
It’s important to never be satisfied with what you know and to keep on learning for you to keep growing as an entrepreneur. The world is constantly changing and so is your audience, so you need to be abreast with what is going on at all times.
Rest assured that we’ll keep you company through our small business tips throughout the year to help you boost your business to its full potential.
