Cutting the ceremonial ribbon on your first-ever business venture can be an incredibly nerve-wracking yet exhilarating experience. After all, it’s taken you all this time to get to this point; it’s only sensical that you’ll want to grab every opportunity you can to get your business off the ground and aimed towards success.

However, success means growth, which for first-time business owners can be easier said than done. Although when you first open your doors, growth might be outside your immediate to-do list; instead, it might be overshadowed by establishing your brand, and attracting a loyal customer base. Yet, growth is involved in each of these steps and, unfortunately, it can only be gained after some time, no matter how hard you wish.

Sure, there is no sure-fire route towards instant success. There are, however, various ways to reach specific growth milestones in hopes of tasting some of that sweet success sooner. From being adaptable and focusing on the customer experience to getting involved in networking events and concentrating on your online presence, we list below several solutions business leaders should consider for company growth:

Be Prepared to Adapt

When undertaking a start-up business venture, many entrepreneurs focus on the five main pillars of success, the business model, the people behind it, the concept, the profitability, and the timing. However, many need to recognize the importance of adaptability, which often sets apart successful start-ups from less successful ones.

According to data taken from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 65% of new businesses fail within the first ten years either because they cannot keep up with demands or don’t possess adequate planning for the future of their industry. To prevent this, business leaders need adaptability in both their product and company so that it can experience growth quicker.

Being adaptable allows you to try different trends and models to see which benefits your product or company more. This effectively allows you to dust off your failures and move on without being held back by your mistakes, and instead learning from them. For instance, if you discover that cash flow management isn’t one of your business's strong points, you might want to adapt your business model to one that provides a stream of revenue per month, like a subscription business model. As evidenced by the success of Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, a subscription business model is where a customer pays a regular price for a product.

As well as allowing for better cash flow management, a subscription business model can provide other benefits, such as increased customer loyalty, and improved inventory management. This is made easier for business owners through all-in-one platforms like Subbly and the subscription business model they use.

Pay Attention to Your Online Presence

Another way that business owners can promote company growth is by paying attention to their business's online presence. Studies show that 97% of Americans now own a mobile device, which is used for reasons far beyond socializing with friends and family members. Nowadays, modern consumers use their mobiles for work, entertainment, shopping, and much more, which is why your company must be socially accessible.

Having an active online presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, allows you to market your products or services to a broader audience and interact with your audience easier. So long as you update your business’s social media account regularly, it allows potential customers to find you easily; your customer satisfaction levels will increase; you cultivate more trust, and it allows for easy sharing of your media, which can encourage growth.

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Get Involved in Networking Events

In business, you may have heard that it's not what you know; it’s whom you know. While knowing your chosen industry is undeniably essential for creating and expanding your business, it is equally important to pay attention to whom you know.

Therefore, business leaders should endeavor to get involved in networking events, as they significantly expand their contacts and potentially their company. Fortunately, given the success of networking events, you can find various ways to introduce yourself and your business to like-minded people.

Networking includes reaching out to people in your field via social media and attending virtual or in-person seminars/conferences, to meeting your contacts for lunch and mingling at pre-planned networking events. For business owners, the opportunity to network is everywhere and, should you be successful, it can even grant you a variety of benefits such as:

• Making connections and meeting influential people in your chosen industry.

• Socializing with people that you may have yet to have the chance to connect with had you not both been at said network event.

• Being able to keep up to date with the latest tools, trends, and resources in your industry.

• Building personal relationships with like-minded individuals that might turn professional in time.

• Mingling with potential influencers and investors that can learn what your brand is about, what you do, how you operate, and where you might go in the future, in hopes of working together.

• Motivating you to take your company to the next level based on your experiences with others at an event, and much more.

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Work On Your Customer Experience

AOL, Sprint, Comcast, AT&T – you might wonder what these household names have in common. Is it their size? The amount of revenue they take in yearly? Quite the opposite actually as these companies are renowned for having some of the worst customer services in the United States. Indeed, you don’t want your company’s name to listed alongside theirs. Therefore, working on your customer experience is another top strategy for business growth.

Customers can be your biggest cheerleaders; however, if you mess up, you’ll soon start to wish they weren’t. Understanding who your customers are, acting upon feedback regularly, connecting with your customers on an emotional level, creating a clear framework for dealing with customer complaints, and implementing customer relationship management software can all help you improve your customer experience levels and much more!

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