Business Development: 5 Ways to be a More Proactive Business Owner

When running a business, it can be easy to get caught up in immediate, day-to-day tasks and forget to think about business development over time. However, this causes business owners to take on more of a reactive role and can be detrimental to future growth. Successful business development requires owners to look forward and check in with those around them to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working toward the same goal.

Here are five ways business owners can be more proactive in getting their business to where they want it to be.

1. Look at the Consumer’s Perspective & Respond to Consumer Feedback

Start with the customer’s first contact with the business and walk through their entire experience. Do this from every possible lead – from business listings to online advertisements to walking by a storefront. What has room for improvement? Is there a way to make this process easier or more accessible? These are especially good questions to ask after receiving a negative review from a customer. Create and implement a set of defined expectations for customer satisfaction and put practices in place to ensure staff is meeting or exceeding them.

2. Check-In with Employees

Take the time to let employees know that their company cares about and values them. Make appointments to see how employees are doing and to address any personal occurrences or problems that might affect their work. It can be very difficult to separate personal lives from professional lives when one is out of balance. A proactive leader helps to identify these issues and can assist their employees with finding ways to work through specific situations in a way that does not affect their work performance and builds loyalty and trust within the company.

3. Give Constructive Criticism

It is essential to give employees both positive and critical feedback. Understanding their strengths and weakness helps people to understand where and how to improve their performance. People overwhelmingly want to be good at their jobs and often depend on compliments and advice to know where they stand. Constructive criticism and reaffirming praise gives employees an understanding of where they are currently and what they need to do if they want to improve.

4. Receive Constructive Criticism

Feedback works both ways. The most successful leaders have the ability to create an atmosphere of open communication where their team can give their own feedback. Business owners want to improve their teams by stretching them and helping them grow because it builds a stronger business and better services or products. But how can leaders stretch themselves? Create an environment that fosters honest and constructive feedback on both sides. This will allow teams to address small issues early on before they breed negativity and become larger, more complicated obstacles.

5. Invest Time in New and Current Employees

It’s natural to have a tendency to want to hire quickly to fill a position, but this can create a standard of high turnover rates (which will cost more money over time). Take the time to hire the right person; someone who demonstrates the company’s values and is focused on finding a long-term career and not just a quick-fix job. For current employees, help them to continue to build and expand their skillsets by answering questions and promoting availability. Employee growth is necessary for business growth.

Need some more tips on growing a successful business? Evolution Brands knows a thing or two about business development and strategy. Give us a call at 239.307.6087.