Apr 10, 2019
Why hello and welcome. Welcome to Episode 15 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.
Have you joined my Facebook Group I’m building called Like Minded Business Owners – I’d love you to join – just search Like Minded Business Owners on Facebook!
I know we all belong to lots of groups on Facebook so I’ve been pondering what I can do that’s different – so, again, I am making the commitment to go, at least once a week to help YOU my listen and those in my world with their biggest challenges or those burning marketing and social media questions.
I’m going to go live every Thursday. So if you’d like to connect and get social on social – head over and join my group. I would LOVE you to come over and say HI! Maybe leave me a question your grappling with and I’ll answer it live for you!
So, onto day’s episode. Most business owners I know want to grow their business. Some to big heights some to lower heights – everyone’s goals and expectations for their business is different to the next.
But regardless of how big you want to get, today I have some 7 tips on how you can accelerate the growth of your business. I just know that you’ll get some great ideas from listening in.
But first, of course, our discovery of the week.
THIS WEEK’S DISCOVERY!
This week’s discovery is an app that’s on my phone and I am falling in love with it more and more – I just know we are going to be best friends very soon – it’s called Unfold.
Unfold is a toolkit for storytellers. Create beautiful and engaging stories from minimal and elegant templates. Available now for iOS and Android.
The app is free although does have more templates if you are willing to put some dollars in – as with all apps these days.
Although it’s built for Instagram Stories – it does so stories for other platforms as well.
If you’re not into stories, then I’m sorry but frankly you need to be. They are were the eyes are at at the moment. With the insane number of something like 400 million daily active users you cannot not be there!
Perhaps head back to Episode 7 of this podcast where I talk about INSTAGRAM STORIES – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE SENSATIONAL! The link is in my show notes at www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au or just check back on the app you are listening in on now!
If you are into stories, then you are also going to love this app. Give it a try and maybe tag me in your story when you use it – I’d love to see them! My tag is @smallbusinessmadesimple
Hey and if you have a little discovery, or something you use in your business that you’d like to share, please do so. Email me at jenn@jenndonovan.com.au or tag me @smallbusinessmadesimple. I really love to know what tools you use to help make your life simpler!
7 SURE-FIRE WAYS TO ACCELERATE THE GROWTH OF YOUR BUSINESS
Ok, 7 sure fire ways to accelerate the growth of your business – let’s do this. Whether you want massive growth or just to reach that goal so you can have more freedom from your business – these tips are bound to make your think, stretch and maybe even just reinforce what you already know!
- Find a Mentor
Every small business owner is on a journey, the only difference is how far along the track they’ve travelled. Finding a mentor who is further down the track and who has already faced and broken through the challenges you are confronting is one of the most effective ways to accelerate your progress.
Finding a mentor can mean paying one, like clients pay me, or it can mean simply following someone on social media and signing up for all their freebies and getting all you can from them – maybe it’s someone in your world like a friend who’s just a little ahead of where you want to be and you can shout them wine or coffee in exchange for wisdom.
My beautiful friend Vicki, shout out to Victoria Joy, and I were having a conversation the other week and she was saying how a podcast she was listening too recommended that people my age (I’m 44) and above even have a Millennial as a mentor! I haven’t stopped thinking about that since!
My tip here is don’t have too many mentors. I found one – very early on. I’ve paid enormous money to my mentor over the past 10 years, but every single cent has been well spent. Everything was a lesson – the good, the bad and the darn right ugly at times too. But I wouldn’t change it, any of it, for the world. It’s got me here and I like it here!
So, choose 1 or 2 people you trust and are aligned with your values and vision and follow them, listen to them. Too many opinions from too many people will not accelerate your growth but more than likely inhibit it! Just keep that in mind. Find your tribe.
- Learn to Market your Talent
You may not know this, but you already have all the talent you need to succeed. I see this all the time, people thinking they need to get the next degree, the next certificate, the next qualification and THEN the money will come in. No, it won’t. You ARE talented enough right now. Need to hear that again – come closer to the microphone – YOU ARE TALENTED ENOUGH RIGHT NOW!
You just need to become a better marketer of what you do. Become better at putting yourself out there as the expert in your field. I don’t crap on about more video and putting your face all over your marketing more often for nothing – it’s strategic – you need to be known as the expert and if you’re never out there how can we know!
Become a better marketer of what you do!
- Connect with a Community
If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together (African Proverb). Build your tribe or find your tribe as I mentioned before.
Surrounding myself with like-minded, forward thinking small business owners who push me, challenge me and celebrate with me is the BEST, by far, thing I have ever done in business.
Isolation is one of the biggest hidden killers of business. Currently I have a tribe of amazing small business owners in my local Business Development Group in Yarrawonga where I live, but at the end of the year, my goal is to have a Mastermind Group – made up of amazing go getters – maybe that’s you. Maybe you might need to keep your eyes out for that one later in the year!
- Be Careful who you Share your Dreams with.
Oh, this is one my mentor taught me – very early on. Never have entrepreneurial conversations with non-entrepreneurs. In other words, don’t have business conversations with people who have no freakin idea what it takes to run a business.
Because it hard. It’s real hard – you know that. Even those who love you most, and often from the best-intentioned places, will try to save you from making mistakes or taking a risk. But that is not how you build a business. We learn so much from mistakes and risks and for some of us that’s how we are built – people who don’t understand will crush that – don’t let them crush you ….
- Ready Fire Aim
For those of you listening who have shared my journey or shared my mentor at any stage will be very familiar with this one.
My mentor taught me very early on “the world doesn’t need someone else aiming to do something”. We just need to do it. Ready, Fire, Aim.
Of course, sometimes I take this a little too far and find myself building things on the fly, but so far, ready fire aim has served me well.
There are two types of entrepreneurs in the world, those who aim to do things and those who do it. The fact is the world doesn’t need any more people aiming to act. What we need is people willing to FIRE. Success comes quickest to those that do, so remember its progress before perfection.
- Build a Movement
The fact is that as humans we want to belong to something bigger than ourselves. So, if you can align your values with the values of the people you attract, then you can build a movement. And the speed of that growth will be determined by the size of your movement.
If you don’t know what your values are – then there’s some homework. Write down the core values of your business and start aligning them with your expertise, your marketing and the audience you are attracting.
- Your Business will Never Outperform you
This one – well it’s quite possibly why you are listening to this podcast and listen to others as well. The most successful entrepreneurs all share one thing in common, an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In the rapidly changing business environment we live in, it’s crucial that you create time and space to work on learning, innovating and growing you. So, congratulations on being a life long learner. For as long as you are looking for new things to learn your business will continue to grow.
So, before we wrap up – let’s go through those 7 tips for business growth again: -
- Find a Mentor
- 2. Learn to Market your Talent
- Connect with a Community
- Be Careful who you Share your Dreams with.
- Ready Fire Aim
- Build a Movement
- Your Business will Never Outperform you
So that’s it for Episode 15. I hope you’re inspired to keep growing in your business and now have some tools and tricks to keep on track for hitting those goals – whatever your goals are.
I’ll be back next Thursday with some more marketing know-how and another discovery.
If you’re liking the podcast – please head over to where you listen and leave a rating and even a review – those things are GOLD for podcasters like me! I’ll be eternally grateful, and it helps others find this podcast and enjoy the free training, tips and tricks too. It could be the best gift you give them!
Maybe you could take a screen shot of you listening to this episode and put it in your stories mentioning @smallbusinessmadesimple
I am very glad to have you as part of my world, as part of my tribe, listening in every week, but I’d also love to catch up between podcasts so don’t forget to join my Facebook group Like Minded Business Owners (after this episode can you see why my group is called what it’s called!?!?!). Look forward to seeing you in there! Of course, links to my other social accounts are in my show notes.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave me a DM on Instagram! The DMs seriously make my day!
Catch you next week,
…….. and remember small business peeps, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!