For many of us, the new year feels like a fresh opportunity for growth. For others, especially small business owners, the new year can be exhausting. Emerging from a busy shopping season, many of us are just finally coming up for air after the end of a busy year.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t start implementing strategies for small business success in 2024 and beyond. Here are eight strategies for successful growth in 2024.
Rethink Mission
The new year is a great time to reevaluate goals, branding, and even your mission. A great business growth strategy is to go back to the basics. If you have a mission statement or handbook for employees, now is the perfect time to review it.
Keep a close eye on and note areas where policies and beliefs have changed. It may be time for a new mission statement or handbook update. What’s more, consider sharing some or all of your mission with customers.
That doesn’t have to mean you need to rethink your whole business model or strategy. For many, it’ll simply mean sharing your mission and why statement with the outside world. Regarding strategy, the messaging can help current and future customers get to know you better and help you stand out.
Acclimate to AI
In 2023, AI was the watchword. While the idea of artificial intelligence as a growth strategy may sound daunting, it can be an essential tool for small or overworked teams who need help occasionally.
Using AI doesn’t mean turning the reins over to a robot. In reality, it means using technology as a jumping-off point.
For example, if you’re coming up against writer’s block crafting a marketing email, it could be the perfect time to turn to ChatGPT to help you write a rough draft. All you need to do is type a prompt, as detailed or as vague as you wish, into the tool, and the AI will churn out a copy.
No tool is perfect, so you’ll likely be left with a first draft for an email rather than a polished final copy, but AI can save you the time of struggling over a first draft, leaving you with text to edit rather than creating a draft on your own.
Hone in on Hospitality
AI may be a part of your business growth strategy for 2024, but it won’t replace the magic of a great customer interaction.
The holidays may have tested the patience of you and your team, leading to burnout and frustration. But, with the new year beginning, now is a great time for a refresher on customer service.
That could be as simple as reviewing the employee handbook or hosting a team session to discuss the customer experience. You may bring in a consultant who specializes in customer service to retrain your team.
Refocusing on the human touch can help your business stand out. While shoppers may love your product, it’s the experience that’s likely to bring them back.
Hospitality isn’t limited to an in-store experience. If your business is digital-first, take the time to review customer chat transcripts, email copy, and the website experience to improve the online shopping experience.
Upskill
Whether you have a digital marketing specialist on your team or are a one-person operation, upskilling is a surefire tool for small business success in 2024.
Upskilling essentially means adding a new skill to your resume through training or online certification. If you craft all your online communications, consider taking a data analytics course better to understand everything from open rates to paid ads. If you have a contract or full-time employee on your team managing the online shop, you could pay for an online course or training for them that helps them better build the platform.
While you may have to pay for a class or training, upskilling leaves you with more knowledge of a subject and the ability to apply it to your small business. If you’re paying for an employee’s upskilling, it’s a nice way to boost retention and help them grow alongside the business, giving them a greater sense of ownership and responsibility.
Rethink Remote
Like it or not, remote work is here to stay for many. While your brick-and-mortar store may require employees, a business growth strategy for 2024 is considering what responsibilities could go remote. Here’s why.
Hiring services remotely opens your business up to many more qualified candidates. If you’re looking for customer service help for your online business, you might consider hiring someone outside your time zone to handle inquiries when you’re off the clock. Similarly, if you’re searching for branding assistance for your store but haven’t found the right talent locally, opening up the pool to professionals outside your area means limitless options and pricing.
Even allowing some of your team to work remotely, whether for customer service, website maintenance, or packaging, could help boost employee satisfaction and retention. While they might be unable to work remotely every shift, even once or twice a week can make a difference.
Stay Secure
The best time to update your security was yesterday. From password managers to onsite security systems, reconsidering how you keep things safe is always important to a small business’s success.
If you ended the year with a surplus of cash, consider upping your in-store security system or springing for a password manager for your online tools. It may seem like a silly expense but you’re preventing future headaches.
Invest in Yourself
Speaking of a surplus of cash from 2023 now is the perfect time to invest those funds back into the business. This could mean upgrading your web hosting service, finally paying for new branding, or even hiring a new part-time employee.
Investing back into the business is a crucial business growth strategy for 2024, as it helps keep your business running smoothly and likely helps it grow. It might be tempting just to take the cash left over at the end of the year, but putting it back into the business both recommits you to its growth and improves the workplace.
Tap into Your Community
Most small businesses sprinted to the end of the new year, and we’re happy if we can even catch our breath come January 1. Doing that all on your own can be lonely and exhausting.
That’s where networking comes in. Sure, it may just sound like more work, but growing your community can be a valuable way to maintain your mental health and grow your business.
Whether you’re connecting with like-minded peers in online small business groups, or going door to door to check in with businesses on your main street, finding community can help alleviate the stress of running a business on your own and give you an outlet for growth. You can learn from these connections, commiserate, and even form partnerships down the line.
Here’s to a year of great growth. Want more resources for your small business? Subscribe to the Get Beyond Blog.Â
