8 New Things To Grow Your Business In 2021

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In 2020 the number of people wanting to become an entrepreneur because they were dissatisfied with their corporate job grew by 27%. If you are one of the new entrepreneurs, or even if you have been doing this for a while, you may be trying to figure out how to grow your business, how to get new clients, and how to make sure that you aren’t missing any opportunities to make more money. 

You can watch the video of our full discussion below or just listen to the audio version as a podcast. If you want more content like this you can subscribe to our Youtube channel.

Today we are addressing all of those things and we are sharing eight ways you can grow your business in 2021. These are strategies that we actually use daily and we have found them to be extremely effective in growing and managing our own businesses. We hope you will find them helpful as well.

Keep a list

Every conversation that you have is a potential sale, so it is so important to keep track of each one. Even if the conversation doesn’t lead anywhere in that moment, down the road it could, you just never know. Every time somebody sends you an email, every time you connect with someone at a networking event, every time somebody reaches out on social media--keep track of that. It can be as simple as putting the information into a Google Sheet or you can use CRM software, but make sure you keep a record of their name, contact information, and what they were interested in. 

Ask for referrals

A lot of people are too intimidated to ask for a referral, but these go such a long way in growing a business. Don’t be scared to ask for them. If you have a great project with a client and they give you good feedback there’s no harm in asking if they know of anyone else that might benefit from  your product or services. 

You can also ask for a digital referral which would be something like having a client share an endorsement on social media or having them share an article you wrote with their newsletter list or even having you as a guest on their podcast.  

Upsell and downsell

This is where a lot of people tend to leave a lot of money on the table. Upsell means somebody is already purchasing a product or service from you, but you add on some additional things for a higher cost. For example, if someone decides to purchase an online course seat from you for $150 and then you convince them to purchase books and materials as well for an additional $100. 

Downselling is effective as well, and it is something that we do. Downselling is offering a more budget friendly or convenient version of a product for people who decline higher priced items. For example, if you have an online course for $500 that not everyone can afford you can offer another course that is shorter and less intense for $50. So when someone sees your $500 course and says I would love to take it but I can’t afford it, you can offer the lower cost option. 

Listen to people to come up with new ideas 

If you have people coming to you and asking you for certain products or services that you don’t offer right now, listen to them, they may help you with your next big idea. Look at where your customers and potential customers are and see if there are other avenues out there that people would be willing to pay for. 

Bigger companies do this all the time. For example, Roomba found that their customers were interested in personalizing their vacuums and they kept getting requests for something customers could use. Instead of ignoring it they decided to go with it and they created skins with all different themes that customers could put on their Roomba to personalize it. So be sure to pay attention to what people are asking you for and see if it is another potential revenue source. 

Offer a great experience

Making sure the client is happy is the best way to get new clients. When you go above and beyond for customers it’s not only going to assure they come back again, but that they will tell everyone they know about you.

It sounds simple, but so many companies and business owners don’t take this to heart. It is hard work to make sure your customers get what they want and more if possible, but it is worth it. Experience matters.

Partnerships

There are times when two businesses or two individuals can co-create value or they can form a partnership that benefits both sides. If you find something like that, it can be wonderful. Most of our partnerships have revolved around courses. But it could also be that someone refers you business and they get a commission or if two people have YouTube channels and they both want more subscribers they could partner for a few videos. We haven’t mastered this one, and most times this is not the best option, but it works for some people so you may want to try it out if it makes sense for your type of business. 

You do have to be careful when partnering for business, a lot of times one side may get more benefits than the other or two personality types might clash. But if you find a good connection that works well, go for it. 

Bulk offerings

Give people deals for bulk offers, it will help customers feel like they are getting more value. We use this in a few ways, especially around our courses and book sales. If someone has the option to purchase 1 course seat for $700 or they can buy 5 seats and get 20% off so they pay $560 per seat, they feel good because they got 5 seats for less than the individual purchase price and without any extra effort you can get the cost of 5 seats vs 1, so it is a win-win. So be sure to offer bulk options at discounted rates when you can. 

Have better processes

If you don’t have good processes in place you may be missing out on money. Having streamlined, effective processes can help you get more done with less time and it can help you bring in a lot more revenue. Delegating and outsourcing work is definitely part of this. If you are doing everything on your own, you are not using your time as an entrepreneur wisely. 

When a client comes to you about a specific product or service do you have a process in place that optimizes the interaction. You want to get your system to be very efficient at generating as much revenue as possible. Automate what you can and delegate as much as you can.