Recently, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported that only 57 percent of business owners are confident that their revenue will grow this year, whereas 69 percent reported confidence in their potential growth last year.
That’s unfortunate, as our economic recovery is contingent on America’s businesses.
Thankfully, economists are predicting growth will continue through 2014, so business owners should not lose hope, especially as we enter the fall and winter seasons.
Though there may have been a slight slump during the summer, sales should pick up, and there are a few steps every business owner can take to feel more confident in their business’s growth.
Get ready for the holiday rush
It’s never too early to begin preparing to capitalize on holiday spending. Make sure your site and payment-processing services can handle the influx of traffic.
Start ramping up your content marketing to help boost SEO and online credibility. Sixty-one percent of consumers surveyed said they placed more trust in a company that delivered custom content.
Evaluate your current staff
Fall is usually the best time to hold performance reviews since you need to be confident that your current staff can handle the oncoming holiday rush, and ensure that you’re happy with who you have working for you going into the new year. If you aren’t confident in your employees, how can you be confident in your business?
Retool the business for your customers
Take a look at shopper data, Web traffic and past campaigns.
Again, the holiday season is probably going to be one of the most profitable periods for your business, so it’s vital that you spread your marketing reach as far as you can.
You should also take a hard look at your sales script and make sure your salespeople are asking the right questions, and basing their conversations on the unique needs of that particular customer, rather than using some catch-all sales pitch.
Be involved and active!
In my opinion, the best way to be confident in your business’s growth is to be as involved in it as you possibly can. When your business is just you working out of a garage, you’re fairly in tune with its health and can be reasonably confident in its growth.
But when you start hiring, you begin to get away from the beating heart of the business.
An executive or manager has a very important role to play in a business, but I’ve noticed that, unless I make an effort to be involved, I begin to feel a bit out of touch with the company.
This fall, try and talk to your secretary, your sales staff, your managers, HR and tech support. Try to understand their perspective. Confidence in your decisions, motives, campaigns and your overall business is going to be key to your success.
By broadening your view of the company, you’ll learn a lot more about it, and find yourself more confident in the direction it’s headed. ●
