As cities loosen restrictions and companies across the United States open back up for business, many business owners are searching for ways to grow despite significantly reduced cash reserves and customer activity. Thankfully, three proven strategies can help business owners get back to growing while minimizing risk.

#1. Listen to Plan for the Future

Life isn’t the same today as it was at the start of 2020. To stay relevant and get positioned for growth going into 2021, businesses must acknowledge — and act on — this year’s changes in the days and weeks ahead.

“Anticipating client needs is a must for any business looking to grow,” explained Elizabeth Eiss, Founder and CEO of the talent curation and freelance recruiting platform ResultsResourcing. “This was true before COVID-19 and it’s even truer now. Being aware of the shifts customers are making (and the shifts customers’ customers are making) will serve a business well when positioning for the ‘new now’.”

Business owners who don’t know where to start should make active listening the first step.

“Active listening keeps a business nimble and serves as a foundation for any strategic pivot,” said Eiss. “Owners should find ways to listen to existing clients or participate in groups that cater to their target client. That might mean attending online forums or local business groups, collaborating with a complementary business provider who serves the same target market, or paying close attention to the feedback generated by websites and marketing campaigns.”

#2. Re-focus and Re-align Efforts to Deliver High Value

“To succeed, business owners must place a premium value on their own time,” said Eiss. “It’s like Peter Drucker said, ‘Do what you do best and outsource the rest.’ When businesses think this way, they focus their efforts on core business activities — those activities that deliver the most customer value and are high ROI. And that is exactly where they should focus.”

“The other non-core, support, or lower-value activities can be outsourced to a trusted, skilled freelancer,” Eiss added. “This is an especially good idea in times of limited resources or low cash reserves because freelance talent is a variable cost. Freelancers are an on-demand resource, you use what you need. This makes utilizing contract services a cost-effective decision and a clever away to optimize finite capital.”

#3. Streamline Operations to Get Lean and Be Nimble

“When finances are tight, businesses should invest in ways that enable them to get lean while preparing to scale as demand rises,” said Eiss. “That means rethinking process, tools, and people, in that order, as each impacts the next. It also means making small, tactical pivots to streamline operations and deliver value while allowing room for adjustment and continued agility as the ‘new now’ keeps evolving.”

“Examples of such strategic pivots might include: adopting remote work for the long run, not just today; adding new products or services; documenting how value is delivered so work is done efficiently and consistently; developing partnerships with complementary firms to offer a broader range of value to customers; and/or expanding talent strategies to outsource work to freelancers. Basically, any small change that enables the business to scale while meeting clients’ changing needs is a great short-term and long-term idea.”  

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