Proven Strategies for Growing Your Business in 2024

Proven Strategies for Growing Your Business in 2024

Each year brings new opportunities for strengthening and growing your business. How you choose to approach growth depends on many factors: current market opportunities and challenges, the economic climate, unique circumstances within your organization, etc. But there are also tried-and-true strategies that help companies across the board position themselves for growth.

If you are committed to growing your business in the coming year, consider incorporating some of the following proven strategies.

Elevate your capabilities through technological advances

You don’t have to be a technology whiz to put the latest tools to work for your business, nor do you need to buy every new piece of technology that comes along. Rather than looking at technology as an endless obligation you need to keep up with, think of it as a tool to enable your business to grow. Take it a step at a time: Focus on one goal and research easy-to-adopt tools that can help you achieve it, then move on to your next goal.

Here are just a few examples of technology updates that may align with your 2024 goals:

If you want to make it easier for customers to transact with your business, explore technology options to help you expand their payment options. Available software solutions are relatively easy to integrate into your payment system so that you can accept all major credit and debit cards at point of sale — whether that’s at your place of business, off-site or online.

If you’re a retailer with a physical store but no ecommerce store, it may be time to consider offering your customers online shopping. Constant Contact’s 2023 Small Business Now report revealed that 40% of shopping is being done online. A remarkable 86% of customers surveyed said they had made an online purchase in the previous month. With so many buyers relying on their digital devices for making purchases, the opportunity for ecommerce sales is great. In fact, many customers simply expect retailers to have an online shopping option. More than a third of consumers surveyed (35%) said they would buy from a different company if the retailer they wanted to buy from didn’t have an online store.

If you’d like to increase productivity, better understand your customers and competitors, or take your cybersecurity to the next level, you may benefit from looking into AI automation tools. Artificial intelligence automation tools abound, offering support in the areas of sales, marketing, operations, customer service, cybersecurity and more. Some of these tools automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks — data entry and transfer, inventory management, customer service activities, etc. — so that employees can focus on more meaningful work. AI can also collect and analyze data to help you better understand your customers and anticipate emerging market trends. In a production setting, AI offers predictive capabilities that help teams identify when equipment needs service before it breaks down, thus minimizing or eliminating costly downtime.

In short, regardless of where you may need automated solutions, AI tools can be worth exploring.

Pump up your marketing efforts

Marketing is one of the most powerful tools a business can harness to expand its customer base and increase sales. The best marketing plans are designed to engage established and prospective customers fully, meeting them where they are with messages and interactive conversations that truly resonate.

Your multichannel approach should take demographics and media habits into account. Are you more likely to engage customers through your website, social media, blogs, videos and email marketing or through traditional TV, radio and print ads?

For most businesses, a strong online presence is essential to marketing success. Social media engagement, website search engine optimization (SEO) and sharing compelling content across all channels are all key to generating results. A well-developed digital campaign provides an added benefit in that its impact can be measured, so you can determine which efforts are producing the greatest return on investment and how you can most effectively allocate your marketing dollars going forward.

Encourage and embrace new ideas

Creativity sets a business apart. Give every employee license to contribute ideas, and let your own imagination run free. Whether a new product or service concept; a fresh approach to selling; a more efficient way to produce, deliver or promote products; or insights into market expansion opportunities, all ideas are good ideas. Think them through, analyze their potential, assess their logistical and financial viability, and decide whether or not to adopt them.

One big idea the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) encourages businesses to consider is going global. “You’re not too small to go global,” they said to small business leaders in 2023, citing federal programs and resources designed to help small businesses break into the international market. Selling products and services to new markets can represent a tremendous opportunity for diversifying your customer base, which can help you ride out domestic market volatility and grow your business more quickly.

Keep in step with your strategic business plan

You’ve probably already committed your annual strategic plan to paper. (If not, our article about how to write an effective business plan may help.) But how often do you actually refer to it? Keeping your plans, including your growth plans, moving forward requires you to keep your stated goals top of mind. Break those goals down into action items and hold yourself and your team accountable for making progress toward each one of them.

Also remember that your business plan should be flexible enough for you to incorporate new goals and ideas as they emerge throughout the year. Momentum is a great motivator. Keep it going strong and growth will follow.

Check out more tips for growing your business.

This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Any reliance on the information herein is solely and exclusively at your own risk and you are urged to do your own independent research. To the extent information herein references an outside resource or Internet site, Dollar Bank is not responsible for information, products or services obtained from outside sources and Dollar Bank will not be liable for any damages that may result from your access to outside resources. As always, please consult your own counsel, accountant or other advisor regarding your specific situation.