How to start a business from scratch and scale it like Google?
Anyone can start a business.
Fill some forms, get the necessary permit, brainstorm some startup ideas, develop a website, market it, and wait for customers to call and order from your website.
Will you be able to scale your business like Google? Not exactly.
Starting a business requires lunchpail and steel-toed boots kind of attitude.
It’s nothing like an elementary school. It’s hard work, long-hours, high-pressure which only a grown-up man can handle.
Regardless of how unique your startup idea might be, it will still upset some critics. Your friends, family, and even your neighbors will abandon you. However, if you follow these simple tips, you might get a good grip on your business in the early stage.
Starting from ground-zero, here are some battle-tested tips that will help to scale your business like Google.
- Create Royal Customer Experiences
From the moment customer lands on your homepage to the moment he gives you feedback about the product, everything will leave an impact on your customer. Each touch point in your website/app will create a perception of your brand in the eyes of your customer.
Moreover, customers, regardless of their age and gender, should be treated royally. A whopping 86% of the customers don’t even mind paying a high price for it, and 73% consider it as a vital purchase decision-making factor.
If you want customers to talk about your brand, start with fantastic customer experience.
- Listen Attentively
Don’t confuse listening with hearing. When you’re sitting in a meeting playing with your mobile, you hear the presentation. However, when your CEO steps up, you start listening attentively.
Most of the businesses don’t even bother hiring professional and likable customer service reps. Hire anyone who can talk over the phone. Not anymore. The customer of today wants some respect. They intend to be heard by a human being, not by an AI machine.
If a customer has concerns regarding an order, jot them down and inform them exactly when you will call back with the updates. Before suggesting any solution, listen carefully even to bite-size detail. Adapt, be flexible, but don’t compromise your business values, objectives, and beliefs.
- Establish Trust
The founding bricks of every business begin with trust. If the customers don’t trust a company, they won’t try to buy from you. To build confidence, it is vital that you stay in front of them. Whether it is social media platforms, forums, or email. You have to make a community of loyal people who understand your business.
- Pick the right platform
You remember the saying, don’t ever come to a gunfight with a knife. The saying is so true for business. Successful brands start with a single platform to spread their message across people.
Call a professional website design agency to develop a high-end website for your service/product. Also, if you’re short in budget, start marketing yourself on Instagram.
For a new company, it is difficult to get orders straight-away. Be patient. Be consistent. Notice the influencers. Follow Gary V and take notes from his videos.
Whichever platform you choose, promote your content. High-quality content will create value and drive insane traffic on your website.
- Iterate as much as you can
There is no such thing as perfect happiness. It is always the pursuit of happiness. You cannot have a complete sales process. Everything evolves with time. Moreover, if you don’t grow, you will be lost in the crowd.
Instead of getting lost in spreadsheets, email tools, simplify your sales process by using a CRM tool. Leverage the power of technology to save the workforce and cost.
With the right tools, you’ll be able to meet and greet the expectations of customers. A survey suggests that 82% of the customers consider ‘immediate’ response as a primary factor when purchasing a product.
With technology all around us, it is entirely impossible to miss an order from a customer. If the customer doesn’t get his customer within 28 seconds, they leave the chat software and look for somewhere else.
- Hire an awesome HR team
Often business owners don’t give too much attention to HR the department.
A good startup, however, needs an excellent HR team. The business culture creates a solid foundation for business success.
“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to.” ~Richard Branson
Good HR is like an arsenal of your business. Happy, joyful, and engaged employees can do fantastic work together and grow the company quickly.
When the companies invest in their people, the onboarding gets easy. If each employee goes through a well-structured process, the business will face fewer challenges.
Take grand steps to measure and improve the engagement of every employee. Take care of the sentiments of your employees. Ask the employees to share the business with their friends.
Give health benefits to your employees. Make them feel safe. To build a happy, healthy environment so that innovation, creativity can blossom.
- Never Stop Learning
If Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos still read books, who is stopping you from growing and learning.
Each day list down the things that you’ve learned. Mistakes that you’ve made. Also, the steps that you took to make things better.
Which of the things can you take off from your back and delegate?
Can you use any automation software to unburden your team?
When you analyze the patterns in your business, you can assign tasks to people with ease.
- Leave office & rejuvenate
Almost everything can be done online, so it is a lame excuse that you cannot leave the office for a few hours. Each day gets away from your computer screen and rejuvenate. Plan a date with yourself. If you prefer networking with people, go out there and meet people.
In a nutshell
Who doesn’t love to enjoy their vacation in Hawaii without worrying about money? However, for that, you must work like hell and build a mind-blowing business. To do that you can either sit down and wait for things to happen, or you can follow the above-mentioned tips, execute, and start living your dream life.