We hear of the Euro crisis and that China is pulling back on their growth. Absolutely correct, but some economists say that this has no affect on you.

With this in mind, it is time to take stock and refocus on your business. A good start will be to stop listening to the doomsayers. Interest rates are at the lowest they have been for many years. And China had to slow down just to get things under control. Did you know that the whole of Australia fits into Shanghai? Sort of puts things into perspective when thinking about the China slowdown.

Back to growing your business. This can’t be done by cutting, or maintaining, or downsizing. You need to be a bit more innovative than that. Perhaps you may be able to save up to 10% of your costs, but in reality, many costs are fixed and cannot be pruned much more than you already have as a conservative business owner (in our experience, small business owners rarely waste money).

Your approach to growing your business should be fairly simple. To get more leads that you convert to customers, to get them to spend more money with you each time and do it more often.  And put some great systems in place to leverage your time so you and your team don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time.

A growing business creates more excitement.  It is more attractive to new team members and customers. People like to be associated with success. You can feel the buzz of growing and you feel good. My wife recently stood in a coffee shop in Bondi to buy a coffee machine and reported that the shop was full of energy. No recession there!

So...what’s stopping you?  Change your focus from cutting costs to growth of sales and margin.

Tips for successful growth:

• Review your prices to make sure you are paid for the value you provide
• Review your product lines and dump the dead ones ... focus on the profitable, fast moving ones
• Package your products so you sell more in a bundle
• Look at your marketing plan ... provided you have one. Market to your customers to make your quiet time busier.
• Review your suppliers to make sure you are getting the best deal
• Develop some new product lines ... there is nothing like innovation to spice things up
• Don’t listen to doomsayers who self prophesise!

Let me know how this new found focus has helped you look for opportunities to grow your business.

For more information contact Terry Dewing on 9526 1211 or email terry@sullivandewing.com.au.