How does your business garden grow?
How Does Your Business Garden Grow?
A small business is similar to a garden.
You have to plan it and then tend to it daily so that eventually you can reap the rewards.
A solid business doesn’t sprout overnight, it takes time.
Seeds have to be sown and nurtured.
It needs daily care.
And you have to weed out the undesirable elements.
You have to invest time and money into it.
Over time, you eventually reap the harvest of those efforts.
And others can also enjoy and benefit from the fruits of your labor!
But for some reason, people think that starting a small business is an easy task and doesn’t require planning or work.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It takes a lot of planning and a lot of work.
Getting an online presence is the same but it can also help your business grow.
Not too long ago I was chatting with some of the locals who aspire to see our town grow into its potential.
Trouble is that none of them are business owners and so they have no idea of the challenges rural businesses face.
In the town, some of the merchants don’t work together or even speak to each other–which is a problem since the town is only a block long!
But one of the biggest shortcomings is that only a few of them are online.
One just put up their page this year and the other three have pages but they don’t really work for them.
But kudos to them–at least they are online. Now, if only they had done it right…
For instance, the one company does not use a URL that has their business name–which is a mistake.
It has some random saying the owner thought was cute but that does nothing for search engine optimization (making it friendly and attractive to the search engine).
The technology is already outdated and it is hard to navigate.
Many of the businesses do not take advantage of the newest technology to help them manage their businesses nor do they use technology to keep in touch with their customers.
Now, not too far out of town a savvy business increased their revenue by using a database inventory system.
They included both products and customers and could put special orders in, monitor what was selling, and project needs for the future and so take advantage of purchasing discounts offered by some of their manufacturers.
They could determine exactly who needed what when and so leverage their dollars AND also contact their customers in a variety of ways to follow up, alert them to sales, or ask them if they might be interested in testing a new product.
Like it or not, technology is like fertile soil. When used correctly, it helps grow a good solid business garden.
Still people resist change.
So, what type of technology are you using?
Do you have an online business presence?
Consider this:
People no longer look for your business in the Yellow Pages and some industries have their heads in the sand and fail to look for the good soil that is available outside of their normal field of vision.
The area is the Internet.
Your prospects and potential clients now turn to their iPhone, Blackberry (or open their laptop) to search for the gardens online that will feed them (or at least attract them) and help them get what they need.
What I am saying is that most businesses need to expand their garden.
It probably isn’t you–because you are reading this!
However, I bet you know someone who needs an Internet gardener.
Place your heirloom seeds in rich, dark soil to get things going the right way so everyone can benefit and enjoy the garden.
I can help–so if you need assistance, give me a call.
For those of you who don’t, please leave a comment and tell us how you leverage technology and the Internet to help your garden grow!
Photo Credit: S. Alt
Spirit Incentives Michael Fertik
