Eight Key Factors For Sustainable Small Business Growth
Post Written By Expert Panel Forbes Councils Member
When it comes to small businesses, any type of growth is a victory, whether it’s new followers on social media or increased foot traffic to your store. However, it can sometimes be difficult to achieve sustainable growth—especially in New York City, where new competitors are popping up all the time.
How does a small business create long-term profitability while keeping costs low? We asked a panel of Forbes New York Business Council members to share their key factors for building a steady stream of growth as a Big Apple business owner.
1. Team Trust
Without trusting your team, there is no way you can scale your operations to increase the volume of your output. If you trust your team to do the job correctly, you can focus on the next growth opportunity, instead of simply taking care of BAU (business as usual) work. – Maurice Harary, The Bid Lab
2. Deep Market Saturation
I’m a huge believer in going deep versus going wide. I think making sure you’ve saturated your current market is more important than being available in multiple territories/states/countries. You want everyone around to know who you are before moving outward. – Hoda Mahmoodzadegan, Molly’s Milk Truck + F’in Delicious Beverages
3. Clear Key Performance Indicators
Know your numbers. I have heard this countless times as a business owner. Simple, but of paramount importance. Key performance indicators give you a weekly pulse on key metrics in the business. To track growth, stagnation, or worse, backsliding, these numbers help you adjust on the fly to keep you focused on your goals. If metrics are not lining up with the goal, a shift is required. – Steven Libman, Integrity Capital Group
4. Cash-Generating Mechanisms
To fund growth, you need cash, but cash is not easy to come by when you’re scrambling to survive as a small business. Therefore, you need to identify and deploy mechanisms to generate that needed cash for product development, new hires, etc. so you don’t stay stagnant. Later you will probably find a few of these mechanisms actually become part of your growth engine as well. Enjoy the ride! – Ching Au, Durabrite, Inc
5. Hustle
Never stop out-hustling your competition. That “hustle” applies to every area of your small business, from continuous improvement and competitive analysis to upgrading equipment and good old-fashioned work ethic. Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle. – Don Daszkowski, International Franchise Professionals Group – IFPG
6. No Debt And Minimal Fixed Expenses
In the early days of a startup, funds are low. There is no brand recognition. You are running on nothing but passion and exhilaration. Stay nimble and out of debt. There is no need for a fancy office, staff that you don’t have time to train and leasing expensive things. Start your business and build sustainability by working smart, marketing yourself and putting in extra hours. – Nic Faitos, Starbright Floral Design
7. A ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal’
To achieve sustainable growth, it’s important to consider slow growth at first to solidify your concept, processes and procedures and team. Then I’d suggest adopting a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). A BHAG creates sustainable growth because it motivates employees, forces them to get creative and aligns everyone in the company toward one big goal. – Josh Cohen, The Junkluggers
8. Unit Economics
How much incremental cash do you make with every unit you sell, and how does your cost of acquisition match up? Too many small businesses rarely understand all of the expenses required to acquire a customer, and then deliver the product or service they are selling. You really have to dig into the details and make sure you understand the core profitability of each sale. – Matt Cooper, Skillshare.com
Forbes Article Link: Eight Key Factors For Sustainable Small Business Growth