Introduction
Building a business empire is a deal of great efforts. You have to face challenges, overcome them, adapt to change, modify and blend as and when required. After being persistent through all of your challenges and adversities, you might start looking at the light of some business growth.
Once you start growing, it’s most likely that you may lose track of some fundamental principles. This article will unfold a few basic yet significantly relevant points that you should never attempt, especially while your business is growing.
There are various factors responsible for business growth. While it is necessary to know what you should do, it’s equally important to know what you should not do to witness desired growth. Let’s dive into this article to know more about the factors that you should avoid doing for your business to get successful.
1. Curbing innovation
As observed by Inc, an American business magazine “Top businesses strive to make their popular products even better, as this way businesses can boost their brand image and can seize the position in the market”, which underlines established business’s approach that encourages innovations.
Innovation is the multi-step process that enables businesses to transform ideas into an improvised version of products or services. Thus, growing businesses should not stop generating innovative ideas; instead, they should imbibe innovation as their core principle for continuing business growth.
2. Avoiding market research
What comes to your mind when you think of Netflix? It is one of the most successful OTT platforms over the Internet. How did Netflix manage to drive this enormous reach and growth? Well, Netflix did their market research better than other competitors and filled the gap present in the industry. On the other hand, Nokia could not sustain its brand image as it failed at its market predictions.
The above examples emphasize the role of market research in the success of a business. It gives you a competitive edge required for attaining business expansion. It includes researching various facets of the market, including understanding your customers and key demographics. Market research sheds light on the following factors:
- Who comes under the ambit of your targeted customer domain?
- How customers are receiving your products or services?
- If a new competitor has arrived in the market, what is their strategy and approach?
- What are the upcoming marketing trends?
- What areas or sections need expansion?
Businesses can deploy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to keep a tab on the organization’s financial requirements.
3. Not embracing change
It is said that change is the law of nature. The same goes for businesses. If your business is not ready to embrace changing conditions, it’s most likely that you will soon fall out of the competition. Let us consider the example of Kodak. It refused to adapt itself to the advancing digital cameras and thus became history.
While it is necessary to embrace change, you should understand various changes that you need to adapt to. These can be structural changes, product changes or changes associated with mergers and acquisitions.
4. Not paying enough attention to your existing customers
While businesses must strive for attracting new customers, they cannot afford to lose their existing customers. As reported by the Harvard Business Review, gaining a new customer is five to twenty-five times more expensive than keeping and preserving an existing one.
Thus, you should take the necessary measures to retain your existing customers while your business is growing. You might not need a heavy budget to keep them if you have already satisfied them with your products or services. Additionally, your existing customers can add value to your business by sharing their stories with others.
Conclusion
There are numerous business strategies exploited to achieve desired business goals. An effective strategy can be the one that tells you what you should not be doing to stay in the game.
