3 WAYS TO BREATHE LIFE INTO YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

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Submitted Date 07/15/2019
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As an established business, you may find at some point that you seem to hit a plateau. Sales are stable and the employees are showing up to work, but the passion and the excitement that was there when the business first opened its doors seem to have disappeared. This is a time where, you as a business owner, need to step outside of the box and come up with some creative ideas to bring that passion and fire back into the business and your employees. Here are a few suggestions to get you thinking.


Involve your employees in creating a new marketing strategy


When you think about it, it is your employees that have the most contact with your customers. They are the ones that talk to the customers, answer questions, and are a representation of your company. Use their knowledge to develop and new and fresh marketing approach. Ask your employees what they think the customers would like to see and what they think will work to bring in new customers. By working as a team with your employees, you are including them and listening to their ideas, making them feel as if they are truly a part of the business success. Giving them this opportunity to have input will help to get them inspired to make their ideas successful.


Increase employee customer service and excitement with a little contest


Who doesn't like to win something? Given that fact, what better way to inspire employees to do their best than offer a customer appreciation contest? For example, say you own a small coffee shop with five baristas. You could run a contest, even on a monthly basis, where customers vote for the friendliest barista. Offer the customer a ticket when they receive their coffee that they can place in the container for their barista of choice. The winning barista each month could receive anything from their name on a place in the coffee shop to a gift certificate. The fun of the competition can bring out the best in your employees.


Create a team goal to increase company presence


With many companies turning to social media sites such as Facebook to reach out to new customers, include your employees in the social media process. For this example, think about your Facebook business page and your current number of Facebook fans. Now, chances are that each of your employees has their own Facebook page as well. As the business owner, site down with all your employees and determine how many new Facebook fans you would like to gain on a weekly basis and turn it into a company-wide promotional program.


For example, if you decide you would like to gain 100 new fans each week then set a benefit should you reach it. In other words, if the goal of 100 new fans is reached that week, on Friday there will be a company lunch for all employees. This gives everyone the incentive to promote the business where they can in order to win that free company lunch. While you incur the cost of lunch, think about the potential customer growth your business could see by using this concept. Both the business and the employees will have something to gain from a program like this.


Keeping life in a business is not always easy, but the most successful business owners make sure they do their best to keep that passion alive. Keeping your employees a part of that process helps to keep the passion within them as well and it becomes a win for everyone involved.
 

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