What NOT To Do While Your Business Is Growing

Building a successful business requires a great amount of focus and effort at every stage, especially if you want your company to continue to see growth. Whether you’re just starting out, or have been running your business for years, in this blog we’ll uncover some of the things you should never do while your business is growing.

#1 Stop Innovating

One of the biggest mistakes you can make while your business is growing is to stop innovating. If you stop creating new ideas, you won’t be able to offer something unique to your customers – this will keep you from standing out from your competitors. According to Inc, “top innovators take popular products and make them even better. That makes brands stand out in the market, and makes it easy for companies to increase revenue.”

At Commercient, we are always innovating to meet the growing needs of our customers. Our SYNC integration has grown to over 65 systems, including Sage, QuickBooks, Acumatica, Epicor, SAP, SYSPRO and many others. In addition, our IoT Pulse app can connect over 815 business applications to your ERP system. To learn more, please visit our Commercient SYNC and IoT Pulse pages.

#2 Put Off Market Research

Another thing you should never do while your company is in the growing stage is put off market research, because it’s the easiest way to keep up with market trends and maintain a competitive edge. If you don’t keep up with market research, you won’t be able to do all of the following:

• Understand how your existing customers use your products.
• Create effectively tailored marketing and pricing campaigns.
• Determine if a new competitor has entered the market, or if brand awareness has fallen short, causing a decrease in sales.
• Identify areas for possible business expansion, as it offers the opportunity to test the market to determine if there is room for a new product or service.
• Discover new markets or identify changing market trends.
• Remain in business and stay relevant.

These are just some of the drawbacks that come with putting off market research. The best thing to do is conduct market research continuously, as it will help you make better decisions when developing and marketing your products, and achieve business growth.

#3 Avoid Change

Do you recall what happened to Kodak and Blockbuster? Kodak refused to change with the coming of digital cameras, while Blockbuster failed to see where the Internet and technology would take the movie rental industry. Because these companies failed to change and adapt, they both met a miserable end (though Kodak is hanging on, fueled by film nostalgia).

It’s important that you and your business embrace change, as finding new ways to adapt to technology is crucial for business expansion. For instance, if your business has hundreds of applications that are not integrated, why not consider connecting them all and automate your business task? Commercient IoT Pulse allows you to connect your ERP system to the Internet, and to over 815 other business applications like MailChimp, DropBox, Insightly, HubSpot and more. Ultimately, the more you adapt to change, the better success you’ll have, so don’t avoid change!

#4 Neglect Your Existing Customers

In this digital age, it is the existing customer that seems to drive every business. If you are only making efforts to acquire new customers, you might be doing more damage to your business than good. According to the Harvard Business Review, “acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.”

It means that while your company is in the growing stage, you may need to make every effort to keep your existing customers happy. With your existing clients, you will spend little or no money on engaging them and create a high churn rate. Also, your existing customers will be more likely to share stories about your company and refer others to you.

At Commercient, we make every effort to maintain and build a strong relationship with all our customers. Check out what some of our existing clients have to say about their experiences with us on our homepage.

Would you like to learn more about how Commercient’s integration apps can improve your business processes? Contact us today.