The past 5 years have been extremely tumultuous for businesses all over the world – firstly, the pandemic was the largest factor when it comes to growth limitation, and the effects of global lockdown are still being seen today. Furthermore, international conflicts, labour shortages, skills gaps and supply chain issues have all been significant regarding limiting company growth across the world. Many businesses have made it through, but finding out how to grow your company amidst lots of changes can seem very difficult.
Many business owners have different ideas on how to stimulate growth, depending on the industry their business is in and their budget. However, certain mistakes that you might be making could be significantly limiting your business’ growth potential. Growth is so important for continued business success, so it’s essential that you’re investing in company growth wherever possible. Want to start growing your business more in 2024? Stop making these 6 common business mistakes – they could be significantly limiting how much progress your business could make.
Not Upskilling Your Staff
Your staff should be one of your main investments – keeping and developing talent is one of the best things you can do if you want to ensure your business can grow and take on more challenging projects. The pandemic has highlighted a significant skills gap across many different countries, but investing in your staff’s skills could be the difference between growth and stagnation. Whether you invest in green skills courses, digital marketing qualifications or NVQs in construction – investing in your staff is an investment in growth. When your staff have more refined skills, they can offer more to your business and be prepared for more projects.
Neglecting The Changing Market
If you want to ensure that your business continues to grow, you need to ensure that you’re paying attention to the market or industry changes around you. Many different factors have meant that many industries have seen lots of change when it comes to industry standards, for example, many businesses have had to start becoming more sustainable in order to keep up with industry changes. Paying attention to news and developments within your industry will allow you to understand it a bit better as well as keeping up with your competition – don’t make the mistake of neglecting your industry.
Not Doing Digital Marketing
Traditional marketing efforts are still extremely useful, and many people unfortunately think of digital marketing as TikTok dances and influencing – but that isn’t the case. Digital marketing is becoming increasingly diverse, and most businesses in most industries can benefit from digital marketing. For example, creating a website and performing SEO can help people find your company – which is essential as most consumers use search engines before they choose a business. Furthermore, social media could help you make your customer services department better – as more people will be able to contact you and give you feedback.
Fail To Improve Sustainability
If you want your business to grow in the modern economy, you need to be prepared for the green economy and the push for sustainability to grow greater than it already is. Many consumers are turning away from green washing and businesses that aren’t eco-friendly – a study by Deloitte found that over a quarter of consumers value sustainability over price when it comes to choosing a business to shop with. Looking forward to the future, it is predicted that companies that don’t embrace sustainability and green living will be left behind. Right now, the biggest mistake you can make is to ignore sustainability completely.
Disregarding Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction should be a significant part of your marketing department. Ensuring that company surveys and feedback is taken seriously and looked into is one of the best things you can do if you want to ensure your business grows. Word of mouth referral is still a key way in which people find businesses and companies, and holding customer satisfaction in high regard is one of the best ways you can increase referrals and improve your reputation. When you don’t place a high importance on this, you could be significantly limiting your company’s growth and preventing customers from coming back – don’t make this mistake in 2024.
Ignoring Funding and Growth Opportunities
Taking advantage of the funding and growth opportunities that may become available to you is essential for growth. After all, no man is an island! For example, things like government funding and CITB grants could allow you to improve the skills of your staff and take on better and bigger projects, stimulating your company’s growth. Opportunities such as seminars, networking events, and courses could be very useful when it comes to creating a growth plan and finding people to help you grow. Isolating yourself and ignoring funding and growth opportunities from other people or organisations is one of the worst things you can do if you’re looking to grow your company!