Small businesses can grow in boom times and periods of difficulty by working smarter and taking advantage of opportunities. Put these following effective tips into practise to help grow your business.

1. Use new technology

• Modern technology can save you time, improve productivity and reduce your operational costs.
• Make use of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media tools to market your business.
• Start with software recommendations from friends and colleagues, but make up your mind.
• Dropbox and Google Docs are cloud-based apps that you can use for document creation and sharing.
• Use Zoom for calling or video conferencing.

2. Communicate better

• Be friendly but professional as you interact with customers, including written invoices, quotes and emails.
• Create guidelines for how to communicate with customers.
• Reply to messages as soon as possible. If you take too long to return a call or email, you may lose a potential customer to a competitor. 
• Try writing a blog or column about your chosen industry.
• Think about sponsoring an event or gifting your products or services to a local sports team, community group, or school.

3. Become more innovative

• Even if your products and services are selling well, always look out for new ways to refine your business.
• Organize regular brainstorming sessions and invite staff to share their ideas on ways to improve products or services.

4. Tighten up your credit policies

• Encourage your customers to make payments quickly by emailing invoices and giving clients a clear time frame to pay.
• Revisit your payment terms and make any necessary changes.

5. Improve your record keeping

• If you’re selling products, keep a record of every product sold and ensure you’re aware of how much stock you have. There are free or low-cost point-of-sale (POS) computer programs that can manage stock inventories and provide a record of each product sold.
• Create a database for future follow-ups by recording clients’ names.

6. Join business associations and organisations

Business associations give you access to industry leaders for an annual membership fee. They hold regular events, seminars, short courses and networking evenings. These events can be incredibly valuable for meeting business owners, identifying investors, and learning more about your industry.

7. Develop a website

Potential customers will search for you on the Internet, often before they contact you or walk through your door. An effective website needs to be functional, communicating what you offer and your point of difference.

8. Manage your time more effectively

• Note where your time is going each day. Try time blocking of similar tasks to complete at a regular time each week.
• There are free or low-cost time management tools that monitor your daily workload and can generate weekly reports.

9. Buy good quality business cards and use them

Take any opportunity to hand out your business card when you meet new people.

10. Generate referrals

There are many ways to create referrals and grow your business. For example, you could pay for them per lead, write a blog, attend trade shows, or simply advertise through various media.

Your small business will need to harness a variety of methods for it to grow sustainably, so take the time to plan and try some new approaches.