How I Grew the Revenues from Scratch to $2 Million Following These 5 Business Principles?

While working for an employer ensures regular monthly pay outs and brings along a sense of financial security, working for yourself brings along an unmatched level of satisfaction. However initiating any new venture requires ability to experiment, spirit to rise up when you fail, and to keep doing that again and again.

Today, when innovation is the key to success, businesses need to offer something different to grab eyeballs. They need to understand that customers of today are very well networked through social media. Their voice has that immense support and backing, which might not have been the case a few years back. And, so it is all the more required to keep customers happy and content at all times. Making interesting offers, bringing innovative products, offering exemplary quality, are only the basic necessities.

Assess and Assemble, a Profit Making Business

Once you decide to dive in, do not forget to pack courage along with; learn to keep an open mind at all times; and, keep customers close.

1. Whoever Said Failure is a Stepping Stone to Success, Was Absolutely Right. And, I have come to learn this from personal experiences. Experiences…which give a blow to start with and take you closer to failure, than ever before. So yes, I learnt my lessons the hard way, the way it should have been. Now, each time I experiment with an innovative product, I prepare for failure and plan to curtail losses, well in advance. Traditional modes of marketing, offered less opportunities to be able to do that. However, with the growing surge of online products and opportunities to make use of Digital Marketing, experimentation is rather inexpensive. So, I have gone ahead and tried out different means and modes to assess the response on my products and have received results in real time. There are several tools to test, use metrics, re-measure, tweak offerings, re-introduce, and again analyse and assess. This kind of approach allowed me opportunities for continuous assessment and continuous improvement. And, I have been able to quickly modify the offerings to keep the consumer engagement levels high and achieve a consistent growth curve.

1. What Consumer Wants? Solving that Jigsaw Puzzle with Data. It is difficult to understand expectations without solid reasoning. And, how to reason without proof? So, go on, collect relevant data. However small the scale of my experiments have been, I have gone all out to capture data; and then assessed it. Whether the tide was in my favour or not, I was mostly able to make out: Why? So, the next time I corrected my approach, I was never left in dearth with the results.

Global leaders like Google, Amazon and Southwest Airlines are famed for their data driven approach in decision making. They have a culture to ‘question’ and then seek answers, and the more their employees ‘question’, the more relevance their decisions have.

Have you ever shopped at Amazon? Sure, would have. So, the next time you visit their portal…do you see product recommendations? That speaks for data driven analysis. They capture the kind of choices you have made in the past, analyse them and share recommendations. This has eventually helped the company to increase sales and improve their bottom line. I strive to follow that approach each time.

So, being data driven in your processes provide for a failsafe approach for business growth.

1. Whoever said, ‘Customer is the King’: Was, Of Course Right. We run businesses to sell our products and services; to make a name and to make money. Customers give us that name and the money. If no one knows us and buys from us, what are we actually doing? So, it’s all about courting our customers. So, start talking. Yes…being connected with one’s customers at all given times is the key to success and happiness for any business. This allows the business to bridge that gap and understand requirements of the end user. Ask them what makes them reach out to you, what makes them stay with you and how they spread the word about you. Consider this indirect ‘word of mouth’. I have been amazed by various answers through these years, and now I know what my customers feel about us and speak about us through closed groups online and offline. And, I am in a happy space. On similar lines, you could hold campaigns to ‘teach them’: about new products or ‘include them’: in bloggers meets, chat sessions etc. Such initiatives keep them thinking about you. Once you are off the minds, you never know when you get off the radar…so hold your customers close, and keep talking.

1. If You Can Sell Before You Make, You Get Icing on the Cake. It is pretty advisable to understand the market scenario and customer expectations: before you actually begin selling. Because, once the process of production and distribution starts on a large scale and the feedback isn’t that great, you are caught in a Catch 22. You might just have arranged finances, set up the required infrastructure, aligned required resources…but are not even sure if the next batch is going to sell. The only way out through the situation is to market your product in a manner that consumers pre-order. Ignite their interest to a level that they are ready to pre-book and share payment information. That in itself is a strong indicator to demand.

World across, many companies like Tesla and Apple launch new versions of their electric cars and iPhones respectively, basis the prior feedback and pre-bookings. Mores so, for various online products and service sellers, it becomes necessary to share a prototype with the customers. Once the demand is generated, they can actually start developing the actual product with various differentiators and plug-ins. For instance, our very own Dropbox, was first introduced as a small function with Excel sheets. However, once the demand increased and the feedbacks seemed positively reinforcing, Microsoft went all out with its launch as a separate product.

1. Dormancy Will Kill Your Business, Look for New Avenues Fast. Online and technology businesses fight with immense internal competition. If only I were to offer something new each time with new versions, I will be able to attract new buyers and retain the old ones. And, this is what I have been doing since the inception…continuous innovation. Yes, I have kept my users attracted and attached to my offerings with newer plug-ins and ancillaries. It is a fact to note that sometimes ancillary offerings bring in more business than the core product. So, I leave that scope open while launching the current version. I drive on the consumer requirements, with the next one.

Failure is that dose of the medication that helps you stand strong on your feet and run that marathon again. Through my journey of enough rise and falls, I have learnt new ways to market my products. I have grown to understand the significance of ‘control groups’, in actually assessing what the consumer wants. The opportunity to ‘test and learn’, is the best mode to get close enough to your customer. Regular feedbacks from the customer, helps me to implement quick revisions. The only point to remember being pre-launch as many products as you can. This will enable you to figure out exact demands of the customer. Once you tread on the correct path, there will of course be more opportunities to receive funding. And, this is how I have been able to take my business from scratch to $2million.

Guest article written by: Kristy is a content marketing professional at GoAssignmentHelp. She is a champion of writing articles on, how could develop your business. Her articles concentrate on instructive substance in regard to the development of business by giving an engaging read. She can be reached at [email protected]