How to Build a Business That Lasts
By Andrew Patricio
February 01, 2017
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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Whether you’ve been in business for a few days or a few decades, you’re worried about the lasting power of your enterprise. Creating a sustainable small business is different than starting and growing a business. So let’s look at how to build a business that lasts so you can rest a bit easier at night.
Lower Your Churn Rate
If you want to create a business that lasts, you’ll need repeat customers. Start by tracking your churn rate and implement strategies to reduce it in the long run.
Build a Strong Team
Your team will determine your failure or your success now and in the future. Try to build a strong team of people who share your vision and who have strong values starting on day one. And implement a preference for promoting from within to ensure future managers and decision makers are shaped by you. With the right team, your business is more likely to endure.
Cultivate Financial Discipline
At the end of the day, if your business is not financially sound, it will not last. And it starts and ends with cash. Cash is king so create a culture of financial discipline within your company to ensure it will last. This means tight cost controls all the time, even in times of plenty. And strictly tying spend back to cost or revenue. It’s not glamorous but then, neither is “Out of Business”.
The real secret to creating a business that lasts is to put the people and processes into place that will ensure these strategies will continue to operate automatically. When that happens, you’ll have a sustainable business that lasts.
Lower Your Churn Rate
If you want to create a business that lasts, you’ll need repeat customers. Start by tracking your churn rate and implement strategies to reduce it in the long run.
- Deliver an impeccable, differentiated customer experience. Give your customers a service they can’t get elsewhere and they’ll come back. You’ll likely need periodic surveys of your old and existing clients to help figure out how to do this so start researching now.
- Develop a nurturing strategy to educate your customers on how they can get the most out of the product/service that they have already purchased. It may seem useless to “sell to the sold” but reassuring your customers that they have the best product/service will make them come back for more.
- Know why customers do NOT come back. Often, you simply have to ask. Then, use that information to do better and encourage those who left to try you again, now that you’ve improved.
Build a Strong Team
Your team will determine your failure or your success now and in the future. Try to build a strong team of people who share your vision and who have strong values starting on day one. And implement a preference for promoting from within to ensure future managers and decision makers are shaped by you. With the right team, your business is more likely to endure.
Cultivate Financial Discipline
At the end of the day, if your business is not financially sound, it will not last. And it starts and ends with cash. Cash is king so create a culture of financial discipline within your company to ensure it will last. This means tight cost controls all the time, even in times of plenty. And strictly tying spend back to cost or revenue. It’s not glamorous but then, neither is “Out of Business”.
The real secret to creating a business that lasts is to put the people and processes into place that will ensure these strategies will continue to operate automatically. When that happens, you’ll have a sustainable business that lasts.