7 hacks for saving time when growing your business

Small businesses face difficult odds in competitive market places. So, any advantage you can give yourself will help you survive and thrive. Growth hacks are inventive and innovative short cuts that let small businesses hurdle obstacles that can slow down progress, reaching the next business goal sooner than expected.

Here’s a run down of seven of the best small business growth hacks that could give you the edge.

1. Ride someone else’s train

When Air BnB started they wanted to try and leverage Craigslist user base. They included an option that allowed posters to advertise on Craigslist, which of course would have a link back to Air BnB, quickly growing the company faster than any of their rivals.

Do the same by identifying a customer base you want to attract and find a way of redirecting them to you.

2. Two-way incentives

Companies like Uber have grown by using crowdfunding platforms and offering investors an incentive to invest. Offer investors a perk to become part of your company above and beyond the normal return and they can be essential in advertising your business and spreading the word.

3. Admin tech shortcuts

Quoting, invoicing and admin eats up huge amounts of valuable time in most small businesses. Research indicates that many SMEs spend on average one day a week taking care of admin. By using quoting and invoicing software, you can cut down this time and spend it in a more productive way.

4. Recruit smarter

Finding the right staff is make or break for small businesses. Be clever about recruiting, targeting the kind of people you want to work for you. Why wait for the right staff to come to you when you can appeal directly to them? Think business schools and tech colleges and go directly to the source of talent.

5. Market smarter

There are all sorts of marketing hacks you can use – from online questionnaires to invite only websites. They have all been used to great effect, and with the right tweaking, could be used to bring customers to your website in their droves.

6. Social media

Don’t hate it, embrace it. Whether you like it or not, social media is as important for your business as a phone number. Be active, visible, funny, whatever it takes to get noticed. Target forums, like pages, joins discussions – just get your name out there.

7. The guest blogger

Invite guest bloggers to create content for your company, who may happen to have a big following. This creates interest in your brand and helps to spread the word to new markets. The same works for you guest blogging on other popular sites.

Growth hacking is the perfect combination of tech knowledge and innovation, as well as key time saving devices. Think smart, outside the box, and you could skip past several stages of slow progress to achieve real growth quickly.