As a business owner, your ultimate goal is to grow your business. This successful growth outcome looks different for everyone. For some, it could mean reaching a point where they barely have to put in many hours, for others, it might mean they can employ a large team, and sometimes it's simply because they want more money. Growing your business will, in most cases, effectively accomplish all of these things.
But how do you get there? In a sea of never-ending tasks and difficult decisions, how do you know which direction to go or what decisions to make? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question due to the sheer number of diverse possibilities and businesses. However, working with my clients, there is one vital skill essential to fast-tracking growth no matter what business or industry you are in.
The ability to identify and implement growth strategies that require minimal lift/investment but have big growth potential. This seems easy at first glance, but to do this effectively, you must have a clear picture of your business, mixed with creativity and problem-solving. As a business owner, these are traits that you likely already possess and employ to some degree. Unfortunately, when you are caught up in the day-to-day operations, these traits can get lost or diminished. When these inherent traits are diminished, these opportunities can cruise right past you, slowing your growth.
To prove this fact, I offer a real-world example from one of my clients. For me, this was a proud coaching moment, as she has done so much work to reshape her business and her mindset.
Note: I never share any of my client's stories without their explicit permission. Cailee permitted me to share this experience so that others can learn from it as well.
She runs a local candle business and is in the process of expanding to online sales. One of her local offerings is hosting a candle-making event in which people can learn how to make custom 100% soy candles. Before the event, she had the amazing idea of using some overstocked car fresheners to incentivize people to leave a review on her website. Seems like such a simple move, right? But to understand the true impact of this move, let's break it down further.
First, we must start with understanding the input side. By input, I mean what is the time and money it will take to implement this action. At the end of the day, if you are spending a large amount of time and money on an action, you want to be fairly certain the ROI is worth it. For this, the cost was minimal, simply because of the low landed cost of the product. As for the time implication, again, it was extremely minimal. This overstocked product was completely ready to go out the door. It did not require time for product research, procurement, or manufacturing. The car fresheners were simply sitting there, waiting to be leveraged. So, this action was of minimal cost and minimal time. That being said, it still requires some time and a little bit of money, so it is important to understand the output side to ensure this move is worth it.
The output side, or the ROI on this action, is HUGE. Thirty people attended this event, which means that at the end of the event, she would have 30 more reviews for her website. You may or may not know, on average only 1-5% of people will leave a review on products they purchased online. This means to get that same amount of reviews from regular sales, she would have needed to sell hundreds of candles, which takes time and money.
Now, with this simple move that required minimal time and money, she has accomplished what normally takes months. Positive reviews are possibly the most effective way to ensure your product converts to a sale on your site. Though there is no way to precisely quantify the number of sales that will come from this move, there will undoubtedly be an increase in sales generated.
This is a highly specific example, but it represents the point of low input, high output opportunities. These opportunities appear in so many ways across so many businesses, but it is up to the owner to seize them.
So as you move forward, look at your business with a clear lens and stimulate growth with small moves.
Cailee's passion for bringing joy to the people around her and building community shines through every candle she makes. Her commitment to providing high-quality products is unwavering, which is demonstrated throughout the entirety of her business. It is truly an honor to watch her grow in all aspects of her business and life. If you are interested in following her journey, you can check her out on her website at https://www.raehandcrafted.com/.