This article is written and owned by Allison Babb
It probably goes without saying that all self-employed
people want to grow their small businesses as quickly as
possible. Solo entrepreneurs, in particular, can find this
to be quite a challenge. Perhaps it’s because we’re often
wearing many hats and juggling many responsibilities.
Growth can seem slower and harder to achieve at times.
When you’re self employed it’s important to understand how
growth happens in a small business so that you’re not
spinning your wheels. Growing your small business typically
means growing the bottom line. You reach others with your
product service which then produces growth for your
business. So how do you get to growth? Well there are many
ways, but here are 3 to consider:
Attract more customers:
Yes, I know, you’re thinking “well duh Allison”. 
Everyone knows they can use more customers, but too often
we limit ourselves to 2 options: “word of mouth” and
“networking.” These are great ways to get the word out but
there are countless other ways to market our businesses as
well. We simply need to invest in our own learning and
growth to discover more options.
I discovered countless marketing options by reading books
like “The Ultimate Marketing Plan” and “Guerilla Marketing”
and, of course, quizzing my coaches and mentors on what
options exist for me. I now have well over a dozen
different ways in which I market my business offline and
online. If business growth is your goal, having only one or
two marketing options is rarely enough to get the volume of
customers you want.
Increase your prices:
Now that’s one way to grow your bottom line, right? But
seriously, can I share a secret with you? Most
self-employed people undercharge for their products and
services. Why? It’s largely mindset as far as I can tell -
we often don’t believe anyone would pay us higher prices.
Internally, we don’t think we’re worth it. So we
undercharge. There are so many talented entrepreneurs out
there who deliver tremendous value and deserve to be paid
for the results they create for others.
With the economic downturn, we’re tempted to cut our prices
to attract more clients. But quite honestly, people don’t
typically buy based solely on price (unless you’re
competing with Walmart-type goods and services.) People buy
based on the value and results you deliver. Price your
services based on the results you help people achieve. It
may be time to amp up your value and increase your prices.
Now I don’t mean to overprice but truly take a look at the
results you deliver in your business and see if it may be
time to adjust your pricing based on what you help others
accomplish. Your talent is probably worth way more than you
think.
Create repeat business:
Our customers return when there’s something valuable to
come back to. One thing to note is that a lot of self
employed people have just one or two things to sell. That’s
probably not enough options to create repeat business.
When you offer more options, you increase the opportunities
for people to buy. Some of your customers will want your
lower-end products/services while others will want your top
end offerings. It may be time to add some offerings based
on what your customers are asking about or what they’re
saying they want more of. And if it’s been a while since
you asked your customers what they want, this may be a
great way to start the New Year.
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And now I’d like to offer you the FREE Audio for solo
entrepreneurs “How to Create a Steady Stream of Clients And
Cash For Your Small Business” at:
http://www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com
Copyright © 2008 Allison Babb International LLC.
Allison Babb is an author, speaker and Small Business Coach
to solo entrepreneurs. She is also the creator of
http://www.TheSmallBusinessSuccessMovie.com
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