Fall Into Great Ways to Grow Your Business

Just because fall is approaching, and temperatures are dropping doesn’t mean your company has to slow down. Fall is actually a great time to prepare for the holiday selling season. Here are some steps you can take this fall to help your business grow stronger in the coming months:

• Identify your customers’ needs. There’s an adage, “Give the people what they want.” But are you certain what your customers want? The best way to find out is to ask them. Consider sending a brief survey to learn about their needs and experiences with your company. You could also engage with your top customers to see what more they may need from you.
• Create sales projections. Review your sales from the previous holiday season to get a baseline. Do you expect sales to increase or decrease? Will you add new products or services? What has changed in your market area? Are there new competitors that could impact your sales?
• Manage your inventory. With your sales projections in hand, start preparing your inventory.  Will your business need additional space for seasonal inventory?  Does your business have stale inventory on hand that is taking up valuable shelf space?  Do you have the working capital in your business to grow your inventory to meet your new sales projections?  Also it could be beneficial to connect with your suppliers to ensure they can provide inventory as needed.
• Marketing and customer engagement. Once you identify the needs of your customers, create a marketing plan to communicate and engage with new and existing customers. Think about the best ways to reach your customers, such as email marketing, social media, or direct mail.  What types of marketing optimization would engage existing customers as well as grow new?
• Hire extra help for the busy holiday season. It’s not too early to work on getting the help you may need for the holiday season now. Use social media or job boards to post opportunities.
  

The holiday season is the best time to grow your business. Use the coming months to gear up for it and put you and your business in the best position for success.