1. Research your target audience

If you don’t know who you are appealing to, how can you hope to target your service or product to the people that will benefit most from it? You need to understand who your ideal customer is, what you can do to reach them, and define how your offering can be refined to meet their needs

2. Stick to what you know (at least at the start)

When trying to grow a business or create sales goals, it can be very tempting to try and diversify so that you can reach as many people as possible. But being all things to all people can backfire and leave you meaning not much to anyone. Focus on your core offering, what differentiates your business and make it the best it can be.

3. Figure out what sets you apart

Why should a customer choose you over a rival organisation? What do you do that other businesses can’t? If you are able to define this, you will be able to build your communications around this and grow your reputation to engage your key audience.

4. Utilise a variety of marketing channels

When it comes to marketing, you need to ensure that you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket and ensure the channels you choose are reaching your core audience. There are so many channels to consider from social media, email marketing, your website, thought leadership blogs, events, direct marketing, networking, webinars and a variety of other marketing methods to ensure you reach the right people at the right time. The more effective your marketing becomes, the greater the engagement you will have with your customer and the easier it will be to increase sales over time.

5. Showcase your expertise 

Whether it’s through your website, infographics, videos, blogs, podcasts, webinars and physical demonstrations you need to create content to show that you are an expert in your particular field. If people are going to trust you, then you should be able to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Working with clients and customers to help grow your content repository can help to further bolster engagement and your reputation.

However, it is absolutely essential to grow a business in a way that is sustainable. Slow and steady wins the race, after all. So, with that in mind, here are five simple tips to ensure that your business grows steadily and in a manner that doesn’t put it at unnecessary risk.