Next Steps to Grow Your Small Business: Unveiling Your Business Potential

When I ask entrepreneurs about their biggest challenges, often they’ll tell me, “I don’t know what to do next.” Maybe you have put all of the foundational pieces of your business in place. But now you’re facing a long to-do list, unsure what next steps to take to grow your small business. If that sounds familiar, know that this is a normal part of entrepreneurship. You’re not alone and we’re here to help!

I have a business. It’s making me a little bit of money, but I’m not doing what I want to do. I know I’m not attracting the right people. And so now that I have a little bit of money coming in, I want to go back and rework the foundations so that I can start building the business that I want to build, not the built business that I have to build.

– Pamela Grice, Business Coach

In this episode, we’ll tell you how to clarify your goals and figure out your next step. It may be easier than you think!

As always, we’d love to hear from you. Where are you in the growth of your business? What next steps do you need to take to create the business you want?

How to Determine Your Next Step to Grow Your Small Business

What We Talked About

• [00:00] Growing the small business that you want to build, not the one that you have to build
• [02:04] Your ideal client and how that changes as you grow your business
• [03:42] Refining your messaging to attract your ideal client
• [06:53] Top five foundational pieces before you begin to grow your business
• [07:56] Free tracker to help you determine the next steps for your business
• [09:05] Defining your goals and making a plan
• [10:27] Evaluating your goals – What’s working or not? What skills do you need to invest in learning?
• [12:03] Saying yes to opportunities that will advance your goals (and only those opportunities)
• [14:11] Surrounding yourself with supportive people who will hold you accountable to your goals
• [15:33] What we bought, read, or watched this week

Identifying and Targeting Your Ideal Customer as Your Business Grows

• “I think your ideal client changes from the beginning to the present … It’s really hard to figure out, ‘How do I become who I really know I should be but bring in the income at the same time?’ That is very much still a mystery to me–how to do both.” – Teri
• “Sometimes you have to take the path of serving those people who are paying you right now, while totally working on only attracting those customers that you want to work with in the future. So your messaging, your online presence, your website, everything is specifically talking only to the people you want to work with.” – Pam
• “[People] started these online businesses out of necessity, and now they’re starting to get to the place of like, “Wait, this is not really what I want it to look like.” So they’re having to go back to the beginning.” – Pam
• “When we talk about our messaging … It’s about creating that dream person that you want to be.” – Teri
• “Get out there and market it. Get yourself on podcasts. Do some guest posting. Do some bundles. Do some summits. Rock your social media. All about that messaging. Work with people to get in front of their audience, so that people can get to know you. And networking.” – Pam

Growing Your Small Business from a Solid Foundation

• “As we’re talking about, what’s the next step to take? You have to look at, ‘Where am I right now? And do I have those foundational pieces in place?'” – Pam
• “You can choose a name and you can change it later. You can change your brand colors later. You can change all of that. It’s just a place to start. I think business owners get in overwhelm and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this isn’t perfect.’ It doesn’t have to be, because you will evolve through this.” – Teri
• “Once you determine what your goals are, it’s really easy to say, ‘What’s the next step?’ Because you take that goal, and you chunk it down into smaller bits, and you chunk those down into smaller bits, until you have everything into bite sized pieces. And then you just work through that plan.” – Pam
• “Business owners, at this point, might say, ‘I have x amount of dollars. What am I going to do with it? I’m missing this part education-wise. How do I enhance what I know that’s going to help me on the back end?'” – Teri
• “We’re identifying and prioritizing your goals, then we’re going to create a roadmap and actionable steps, and then we’re going to get those things on the calendar to make them happen. And basically that’s the process of figuring out, ‘What’s my next best move?’ Really, if you want to chuck it down to a single idea, it’s like, know your goals and continue to work toward them.” – Pam

Saying “No” to Things that Distract You from Your Goals

• “Get your bills paid, and then from that point on, you say, ‘Will the does this opportunity serve my future, or does it not?’ If it’s working with someone you don’t feel like working with, or if it’s taking on tasks you don’t feel like taking on, then figure out how you can substitute a different opportunity that you do want to be doing.” – Pam
• “We all know where we’re supposed to be and not supposed to be. We can feel it. So I think it’s listening to that little voice inside of you, like, ‘This isn’t exactly where I’m supposed to be.’ We all know that, so just coming up with it.” – Teri
• “Surround yourself with supportive people–people who will keep you on track, people who you can have hold you accountable for working towards your goals.” – Pam
• “We want you to get to your desk in the morning and feel excited to serve your people. Ultimately, that’s the goal.” – Pam