Independent Alternative Businesses, by their nature, have a harder time to scale and optimize.
They can stay lean and be profitable, even without great investments or by being chained to big pockets.
Here are 9 ways alt-biz owners can scale and optimize their operations.
1: Digitize Your Processes.
Automate tasks like invoicing, bookkeeping, and customer relationship management.
This saves time, reduces errors and allows you to focus more on your product, service and lead generation.
If you need a tool to Digitize, DM me, so I can direct you to what’s best for your specific case.
2: Centralize and Automate.
Nowadays, most tools can be centralized in one platform.
These can streamline all your activities, automate repetitive tasks and help you monitor everything easily.
Again, DM me, so I can direct you to the right tool.
3: Outsource Strategically.
Delegate non-core tasks to freelancers or specialized agencies.
And this doesn’t mean hiring cheap labour on Fiverr on UpWork.
In your local community, you can find great talent that needs more work.
Hire them and help your area grow and prosper.
4: Optimize your Online Presence.
Focus on 2 social media platforms.
Grow them as much as possible and ignore the rest.
Funnel all that traffic into your lead generation.
5: Great Customer Experience.
Provide excellent customer service.
When they are happy, ask for reviews and to recommend them to their friends and family.
Don’t take it for granted: most people will do it ONLY if you ask.
6: Network and Collaborate.
Build relationships with other business owners that share your values.
Create new opportunities and complement each other’s offers.
7: Measure and Monitor.
Track KPIs like average order value, lead lifetime value and ROMI.
You don’t need to monitor a lot of numbers.
You need to monitor the ones that give you the direction of your business.
8: Invest in Employee Training.
This is where companies really shine.
Take the time to find the best training for yourself and your employees.
Do this for a few months and you’ll see the effect compound greatly.
Which, in turn, will translate in profits and satisfaction.
9: Cut out dead branches.
In business, it’s important to experiment new ideas, technologies and approaches.
Keep what works.
Remove what doesn’t work.
Keep your business operations as lean as possible. Because the more you grow and scale, the harder it will be to keep things simple.