Every business is on their own journey, and even if you can take the same advice as every other small business, you’re facing your own unique hurdles!
And that’s what makes tracking and marking your growth so essential. You need to know you’re making progress, and to be able to feel that as you go along. Without any proper goals to reach, it’s going to be hard to deduce when you’ve taken a step in the right direction.
As such, here are a few growth milestones every first year business can build towards. If you’ve got nothing else on your planner right now, make sure you get these ones down.
New Customer Acquisition
Building your market profile is one thing. Getting new customers is another. They’re both building blocks toward eventual success, but one feels a lot more exciting than the other!
New customer acquisition means you’ve put the right time and effort into your lead generation, your marketing, and your overall customer experience. It’s something any business advisor would tell you to be proud of – and then repeat ad infinitum, as your strategy is clearly working well.
You’ve gained a whole new prospect that could actually pay dividends (and regular ones, if there’s a chance for repeat custom), and that’s always something to celebrate.
Your First Hire
Hiring someone for the first time is a breath of fresh air. Now you’re the one on the opposite side of the table, and you’re not in the hot seat, trying to prove to a potential investor (or even a new customer) that your product is worth their time and money.
But bringing in your first hire still takes a careful hand. You can’t just ask anyone to come on board; you need to know you’ve got the best fit, and the right talent, for the job.
And to attract that, you’re going to have to present the right job package for the candidate too. Remember, if you want someone to join the team and give their all, you have to make the idea seem just as shiny to them too.
Making Regular Sales
New sales, old customers, putting an actual sale event on, offering a loyalty program – these are all great ways to bring in regular sales.
But when you realise you’ve actually made regular sales for the last month, you’ve hit a very significant milestone that you should be proud of.
After all, while you still may not be making much profit (or any!), you’re on the right pathway to finally seeing your cash flow hit the green. It may only be another couple of months before you do!
Hitting a growth milestone is incredibly motivating when you’re a new business. Make sure you take those above into account on your journey, as they’re all great signs. You’re on the way, you’ve made some great momentum, and now’s your chance to really build out from here.
