Posted on: November 11, 2020 Posted by: Aaron_George Comments: 0

This year has been about survival, but if you have survived 2020 with your business, then you have set down the groundwork for true, lasting success in 2021 and beyond. If you don’t think you are there yet, don’t despair. There is still plenty of time to adjust your business model and processes to start enjoying the gains next year.

To succeed today, you need to be efficient. You also need to have more than one revenue stream and collaborate with other businesses to bring together a true community feel to your business. This can be entirely different from how you have operated before, but that’s what makes this challenge so exciting.

Every business’ strategy for growth will differ depending on your industry, your location, and even your customers or clients. Though the actual approach you take will be unique to you, these great seven tips are easy to adapt for your needs and are an excellent place to start strategizing for 2021 growth:

  • Use Automation

The best way to facilitate growth is to improve and streamline your business. Tasks that take a needless amount of time, just because the input and management process is clunky, are a huge waste of time and money.

Automation isn’t just for big businesses, either. You can enjoy automation even as an upstart small business thanks to cloud-based software. All you need to do is make sure that the tools you choose are capable of integrating. This means that they are able to talk to and share data with each other. 

With the right integrated system, you will be able to set up automated tasks, alerts, and reports. Streamline your work process, and enjoy better and smarter business solutions.

  • Streamline Operations with the Right Tools

Where automation cannot be done, streamlining must happen. This applies to every process in your business, from marketing all the way to software development. There will be individual solutions for each option, so invest in product operations, sales operations, marketing operations, and more as necessary to make it easier for your teams to work, onboard new hires, and of course, manage and leverage their data.

  • Collaborate with Other Businesses and Brands

The best way to not just survive but thrive in 2020 and beyond is to work together, rather than working for or with a direct competitor, partner with adjacent industries. A software development company can work with a web design company, for example, to create more custom, powerful websites for clients. A ceramic artist can partner with a restaurant or bakery to sell their mugs and crockery in-store and online. There are so many ways you can increase your customer base by working with complementary businesses.

  • Expand Your Revenue Streams

Partnering with other businesses is not the only way that you can increase your revenue. Software development companies can and should aim to expand their product range to provide new solutions for their customer base. That ceramic artist shouldn’t just aim to sell at different locations but also to offer pottery classes and workshops. By expanding the services you offer, especially in a mix of in-person and online, you can strengthen your business for future success.

  • Become Sustainable and Save

Cutting costs is an easy and efficient method of improving your profit margins. Streamlining your business and introducing automation will do this by saving you time, but there are so many more ways to save money, and done right, they can actually help you make strides towards becoming more sustainable.

Cutting out paper, working with other businesses to buy their waste instead of raw materials, and so on – these are great ways to save and be green. For example, you could buy boxes to be reused for your shipment instead of buying virgin boxes. You could buy recycled paper for packaging instead of new. You could even make your business circular and buy back old stock to be upcycled into new products.

What you can do depends entirely on your business type. A software development company will have to focus on energy efficiency over circular supply chains, for example. Regardless, there are options out there for you, and, done right; you can save big.

  • Find the Right Shipping Solution

If you sell products, then look into expanding where and how far you can ship with the right shipping solution. You don’t want to have some customers on the other side of the country waiting weeks for your products. Instead, you can partner with a shipping solution that allows you to keep a stock of your product at different distribution points so all of your customers can get your products fast. This way, you can work to improve your presence from multiple points.

  • Be a Leader in the Community

It’s all about shopping local this year, and a great way to take advantage of that into 2021 is to become a leader in the community. Work to lift up the other shops on your street, host events (online or in-person), workshops, and more. Just by organizing and hosting activities, workshops, talks, and more, you can become a leader in your community.


This applies to stores and to online businesses. For online businesses, try to be a leader in your industry. Offer short online courses, create in-depth how-to guides, and try to be the all-in-one source for those looking for a solution in your industry.

Remember that business growth does not have to mean a boost in revenue. How you grow depends entirely on your individual goals. If you want to grow from a single store into a popular online shop, it will be different from expanding on sales. If you want to get your product to a greater number of people in your country or even start allowing international sales, then that’s another goal.

Improve profit margins, grow your customer base, increase your product offerings; there are so many ways to grow your business, and these eight tips, customized to suit your company, will help you get there.

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