by: Ewen Chia
Is there a 'magical' way to exponentially grow your business?
It's about the timeless business principle known as "Re-investment".
Look, one of the most exciting times for any new business is the time when effort begins to pay off. Finally, the sales are coming in and you have profit to show for all your hard work. It is very tempting during this time to splurge those profits...
But you've to resist this urge and stop!
You do deserve a reward. You deserve the greatest reward of all: a highly profitable, growing and thriving business with LONG-TERM stability. You deserve to take your business from where it is to where you dream it to be.
Again, one quick and easy way to close that gap between reality and desire is simply by re-investing a potion of your profits back into your business.
It's the same for any business offline, and it'll be the same for any successful business online.
Let's look at why this is so.
Every business requires a minimum budget to get off the ground. Likewise, every business requires an expanded budget in order to grow and increase profitability. Remember that your budget covers more than 'operating expenses' and advertising. It is also there to cover the purchase of new software, fund new projects or your continuing education.
Keeping this in mind, what are some areas you can reinvest in:
Increased Reach and Exposure
When you begin with a small budget, your advertising options are naturally somewhat limited. Once you have the money to re-invest you can begin testing new channels to deliver your message. This may mean placing an ad in an ezine you couldn't afford to before, or even taking your efforts offline to print and radio advertising.
Expanded Tactics and Improved Testing
You have the opportunity to try out new approaches. You also have the opportunity to increase your current ad spend in existing campaigns and test the results. This is critical especially in pay per click advertising. For example, your minimum daily budget for a Google Adwords campaign affects the number of times your ad is seen and clicked on. A simple increase in your daily budget may turn a mediocre campaign into a winner.
Rapid Growth Through Efficiency
There are any number of tools you can invest in to improve how you organize your business, how you manage customer service and even how much tracking of sales and traffic you can accomplish.
Anything which shortens the time you spend on the detail work of your business means more time to focus on the activities which improve your bottom line.
Improved Products
You must constantly strive to create new products and improve on existing ones in order to remain competitive. Perhaps your first product didn't quite fit your vision? Perhaps your web page could use a tune up? You can re-invest in improved graphics, improved design and other multi-media enhancements. This not only makes your product more attractive, it also increases its value and what you can charge for it.
The principle of business reinvestment is really about profitable growth through momentum and careful planning.
A business is very much like a seedling you want to grow into a tree. It requires air, sunlight, water and food. You tend to it and nurture, even when the immediate benefits aren't obvious.
This is because you know the tree WILL one day bear fruit all year round.
When you tend to your business with the same care, every cent you invest will return to you ten-fold and bear profit for years to come.
If you've been doing this, great...
If not, maybe it's something to think about, starting right now.
Copyright 2004 Ewen Chia