Celebrating National Small Business Week
This week, May 5-11th, we are celebrating National Small Business Week with the U.S. Small Business Administration, and are sharing tips designed for small businesses to grow successfully. Impact started as a small business in 1999 with only three employees and since has grown to employ almost 600 people across four states. Although the business has grown, we continue to service the same companies we did 20 years ago, small to mid-size businesses, and offer them the tools and solutions we’ve used internally to gain success.
Checkout these 5 tips for growing your SMB:
1. Bring Recruitment Efforts In-House
As a business continues to grow, it will be required to add new employees. According to Entrepreneur, small business owners can spend up to 40 percent of their day engaged on remedial tasks such as hiring. By growing an internal recruitment team, businesses can keep up with the capacity of hiring employees for multiple departments, while still finding high-quality talent. At Impact, we found that internal recruiters had a better understanding of team dynamics and company culture, which ultimately led to less turnover in new employees. An internal recruitment team can also ensure that hiring goals are aligned and provides career opportunities for employees.
2. Implement a Managed Recurring Revenue (MRR) Model
Companies still using a break-fix business model can tend to run into challenges when it comes to sustained, long-term growth. By designing an MRR model, businesses can use long term contracts with customers that include multiple services under one bill. This strategy allows managed service providers to offer a true solution to clients rather than a single product. At Impact we have been able to provide clients with a well-rounded, multi-product solution that services many aspects of a business by using an MRR model. This method also builds trust with clients and positions Impact as a trusted expert. Ultimately, a recurring revenue model has many benefits including, increased cash flow, opportunities for expansion, continuous investment in employees, and access to cutting-edge technology.
3. Consistently Evaluate Business Processes
As a business grows, the leaderships team should constantly be looking to improve operations by evaluating business processes. The overall efficiency of a company’s business processes can lead to successful growth for an organization. It is important that leaders look at every process including, order process, sales process, technology used to process order and contracts, order-to-delivery process, etc. Improvement in processes is important for growth to make sure you can keep up with customers and employee demands. Key metrics to prioritize include:
- Increased cash flow and revenue
- Number of users effected
- Overall effect on the customer experience
4. Perpetuate a Culture of Change
Change in every company and industry is inevitable. Employees should be adaptable and excited for the future. At Impact, the leadership team has always been upfront about the future vision for the company and the steps necessary to get there. By involving employees, they feel more invested in the overall success and growth of the organization. Constantly perpetuating a culture of change will ease the transition for many employees.
5. Reinvest Back into the Company
As a small business, every dollar spent is important. However, as the company begins to see revenues, it is important that money be invested back into the business to ensure continued growth. Owners and executives can invest in new technology, recruiting, facilities, training and more. The benefits of re-investing back into the company include – happy employees, talent acquisition in a saturated market and the evolution of services and solutions. At Impact, every dollar that is not needed to operate the daily business is reinvested in the form of expansions in service, products and locations, hiring new employees and training current employees.