In business, there will always be a time when you feel like you are already up against a stone wall. When you feel like you have already drained all your resources and that you have already used up everything you knew and yet you still have the burning desire to bring your business to a higher level. Try these strategies of growing your business.

1. Make connections

You can never grow your business to a certain level of growth that you want if you do not have the right connections. It is therefore imperative that you have a network of relevant people that could be instrumental to your growth. No relevant growth can be achieved by doing things all by yourself, you do it rather with a network of like-minded associates.

2. Learn, learn, learn

Never stop learning. Learn while you work, Learn while you build your business up. Learn while you fail. Learn in every way you could. You could learn through experience or you could go back to taking up classes. If there is a particular skill that you think is relevant for you to implement growth, and then by all means go enrol in a class, study and learn it with passion. By learning, you learn to grow your business, and while you grow, you’re learning to grow all the bigger

3. Have a business consultant

You need guidance while you grow your business. You need someone to steer you in the direction you want your business to tread. A business consultant will do just that. He can make your goals clearer and make it practically achievable. They know how to fill the gaps. By tapping their services, you are taping as well their rich reserve of vast experience that they have acquired through the years, thus, ensuring you that there is wisdom in their words.

4. Make yourself accountable to a higher office

Even if you own the business, you must have your own mini advisory board of which you make yourself accountable to. This way, you can put a restrictive rein to your impulses and make you think twice before making major and risky business decisions. They could become your boss, to whom you are answerable to your actions. In my case my mini advisory board is composed of my father who happens to be a retired executive, my accountant brother and a businessman friend. This is my group, my advisory group who have the heart to help me tread the ladder to success. The board becomes my boss. I report to it, discuss my plans, justify my actions and lay out my financial activities without reservations. These are people who think like me and have the capacities that could exactly complement me as I run my business efficiently. The advisory board helped me achieve bold new heights for my business, it helped me grow my business at a rate that I envision it to. It made me feel and think like I am running a huge company which altogether helped me gain confidence in my bearing.

Let us also hear what strategies you employ with your business.

Australia has an entirely different structure of doing business with Asia. Some pointers below might just help you exactly how to do business in Asia the right way.

Lend your ears and don’t talk too much

Most Australians convey their passion in their works through words. We tend to make our conversations verbose and lively. This is our way of establishing connections. For us this is the way to do business. By talking, we could get our messages across better. But in Asia, this is not necessarily so, people deal business through focusing in details by listening attentively.  For Asian, talking too much might come off negatively than intended. So to deal better with Asians it is better to lend your ears fully and convey your interest by giving your earnest attention.

Make your presentations excellent

I once had been one of the Australian business delegates sent to China, and I was clearly impressed by the business literatures they hand around. It says there all the needed details about China with all the enticing pointers laying out the reasons for the investors to invest in China. It was such an impeccable material with the context prepared with much thoughtfulness by having it in both languages, English and Chinese.  I believe it cost them a lot to produce such document, but it was more than enough to convince any prospective investor that indeed China is serious to accommodate investors. So if you wish to establish an impression of good reputation and capability, then learn the lesson from the Chinese. Learn the way how excellent their presentations are and how impeccable they make their materials to promote their credentials.

Diversify your approach

Penetrating the Asian market will require diverse and different approaches. Asia is a continent of many nations, all with an entirely different culture and tendencies. A generic approach to all the Asian countries are bound to fail since the diverse needs and lifestyle. You will have to customize your strategy to each of the countries you wish to penetrate and then from there start to modify some of the details to be used for yet another country. Do not take it as a single market; rather, view it as a group of diverse markets with diverse marketing strategies and techniques.

Build solid relationships

The success of your business venture in Asia heavily depends on your capacity to build solid relationships with your potential business partners. You should not consider talking about business dealings unless you have already made an effort to discuss any personal topics first; otherwise, you risk having your actions interpreted as an affront.  This may not be your way of doing business because this is not the way you were oriented, but you will have to adapt to the Asian culture if your wish your business to flourish in their market. You have to take time to build connections, show genuine concern, talk about some relevant personal matters. You must earn their trust way before you make business deals.

Have your company represented by your best delegates

Asians are bright people, and they do not like the idea of dealing with people who do not consider them an equal. Needless to say, they expect to deal with the best minds. To have them deal with your second class business teams will get you nowhere. Either you personally close the deal with these Asian people or at least send in the best of your best. You only need to remember that you have so much to gain from Asia considering its huge emerging market. Therefore, as much as possible, concentrate your resources where the potential is great.

Up-selling and cross-selling is one of the best ways to sky rocket your revenue. It is practical and enhances the other key parts of your business structure. Take time to learn its ways make god use of its advantages.

It was in Mc Donald’s that I had my first lesson about up-selling; only that I learned the lesson the hard way, I got suspended for ceasing to practise it. I thought it was such a bad idea. The fact of always asking people to have to add anything more to what they have already ordered might just be the reason of some of their irritation. I definitely do not want to be the subject of their irritation so I stopped, and that’s how I got suspended. Many years later, I realized that Mc Donald’s had been doing the thing the right way after all. Now I know that it makes perfect sense to ask people the “would you like additional fries to go with that?” question. People coming to Mc Donald’s are customers who have decided long before to spend some amount of money, sure there could be a chance that somehow they will respond favourably to your up-selling, and that would have made a huge difference already.

Up-selling and cross selling are really practical steps that require no additional capital but will provide additional revenue. It is such a brilliant technique but only a few are doing it, really. It dramatically increases earnings, which makes it really tempting to give it a serious try. See some of the examples below:

You are offering a service

                As a service provider, you may make sensible offers that could really entice your clients to opt for your services. You could craft your strategy in such a way as offering your clients practical discounts if they choose to avail of the services for a longer term. Or every time you quote a customer, you might also include a quotation of the other services of products that you provide with a brief explanation as to its importance to them. One of the loopholes we commit in providing services is we do not get to offer relevant information to our clients which in one way or another could help promote your product or services. Take the initiative to promote your other services even if you have not been asked. There is no harm in doing so. Most customers might even appreciate you for it.

You are an online vendor

                You can always take advantage of the technology we have how. You may readily walk your customers through with any of the products relevant to what they are about to purchase, of course this time with an enticing discount. Or if they plan on bulk purchases, then you could somehow provide a generous discount by slashing off a hefty amount. Make offers. Entice them to buy more thus increasing your revenue. This is up-selling at its best.

We know the certain advantages of up-selling and cross-selling. It is time now to discuss the first few steps we need to undertake to start things off:

• When you sign off your email, do not forget to include special offers and a brief summary of your company to give them a concise idea of what you exactly do.
• Read a very good article in Flying Solo about email newsletter. You will learn so much about the said topic that will help you along the way.
• Take initiative to do things way above expectations. If you have something new, then make an effort to channel that to your clients. It will show how much you care about them.

Make no second thoughts about up- selling your services or products. It is a noble part of business strategy. It is proven to work even by large companies. You only need to make a choice, an educated choice to rev up your business.

For so long,  one question that stood out among the rest, it was: “How to sell my services just like the products”.

I have already tried running a business on services and products, and as time went on, I came  to realize that  it is more practical to deal with services if we talk about time and finances. The only thing with offering services is you have to earn it every single moment. There is no way you can leave it somewhere and on its own will generate revenues, just like selling products. I cannot even find time to do some important errands because I have to attend to my business of servicing for people. There is no way you can take some time off for something if you wish not to lose a relevant portion of your revenue. On the other hand, product based business is fine, only that it requires a considerable space and capital. The need for a huge space for the inventory could really be overwhelming plus the surmounting pressure of huge financial requirements as the operation runs.  The good thing about it is it is way simpler than service-based business. You can easily hire some people for different various tasks and sure it will generate revenue even if you are away.

The challenge here is to merge the two concepts by slashing the superfluous characteristics and retaining its positive traits. I wish to come up with a concept that sells my services the way products are sold. Below are 5 of the concepts I successfully employed:

 1. Apply the team concept

Meet your projects the same way a team will do its parts. You can tap a few of highly skilled workers to do the job for you when you are busy or you took some time away. If you are a writer, you can tap a few skilled writers to share the work for a fee. Or you can even offer to handle the project as a project manager. It is a win-win situation for everyone.

2. Become a trainer

Once you have established yourself as an authority in a certain field with a reputation as someone with incredible skills, you can utilize that knowledge to earn money for you. You conduct trainings for a fee and sell your training modules for yet another revenue generating income. With the advent of technology, your training materials could reach the farthest places thus increasing your potential to earn more.

3. Become a writer

You can earn from writing relevant materials. Ebooks now can fetch a good price depending on the content. It is a great way of selling your services just like a product. Your only capital here is your knowledge about the topic you are sharing.

4. Make it an artwork

By transforming your own work into a work of art it becomes a lot more marketable. It does not have to be complicated; you can make it simple but intricately beautiful.

5. Make it client-oriented

When you package your services, make sure it is client oriented; one that caters to the customers’ needs without any complications. For a web designer, you might just have to develop a simple and cost effective template that performs at a standard of their requirement. Just make things client friendly.

If you have any relevant opinions on transforming client based into product based businesses, and then please share it with us.

Joint venture is a mutual agreement between two businesses with a shared vision and goals. If it is executed well, it could dramatically contribute to your business’ growth.

Do you consider it essential that your business will keep growing at a steady rate? Does it matter that your business could readily keep up with the changes of economic landscape to ensure your business’s longevity and sustainability? Do you have what it take to answer the demands of the market?

To answer the above mentioned questions only mean that you have the lofty goal of seeing your business soar and grow on your watch, and one of the best things you could do is to enter into a profitable joint venture with a company who shares the same character as you do. This concept may be acceptable to others for all the potentials it entails, while for others it bespeaks of doom. To some, it is an opportunity to have so much to gain from, while to others it is a risk not worthy to try at all. Well, it’s a natural reaction, because indeed joint ventures are tricky, it can make or break your growth. But if only it is done accordingly, it could greatly contribute to your success in general.

On a personal note, I love the idea of joint ventures. Under its guise, I have formed the most fruitful business relationships which consequently impacted a positive growth both to my personal life and my business.  Michael Masterson and Mary Ellen Tribby have a few suggestions to help some of our entrepreneur friends in choosing their prospective partners in joint business ventures:

• Strength – you have to find a strong partner, one with strong business components that complement to yours.
• Mutual gain – you to find a business partner with a capacity that you consider equal. It is detrimental in the long run if your venture started on an unequal ground.
• Limited scope – Make the extent of your venture proceed in a gradual process.
• Trust – your venture must be founded in trust, first and foremost
• Simplicity in agreement – the complex the agreement the more ground for misunderstanding
• Amicable settlement – you should have an agreed way out if ever things will not work out in the near future.
• Goodwill – Both of you must have the intention to help each other to achieve your common goal.
• Timing – Timing is everything. Put things into order first before you take the initiative of forming a venture, this will help you avoid confusion and disarray.

Joint venture could literally help you achieve a successful and fulfilling business; at the same time you will have the opportunity to forge a gratifying relationship with your venture-partner. The above mentioned fundamentals will help you get the best out of this business idea.

If ever you have had any experience with business venture, please feel free to share your experience. We will be more than glad to hear anything from you.

I just came back from China, and would say that it has shown an overwhelming growth in every sense of the word over a short time span. Below are seven simple facts about their economic growth that I have come to witness during my recent visit.

1. Robust economic growth

Everywhere you turn your eyes it will be met by astonishing progress in every angle possible. Infrastructure projects are really overwhelming. Construction ventures are ever present. In almost all aspects of economy, China is really achieving rapid and consistent growth. China has recorded an 8.5% yearly growth which is by itself a feat.  Indeed its economy is making an unquestionable impact that resonates to every country in the world. It is a kind of impact that made them independent from the clutches of power of United States.

2. Noticeable achievements in different fields

The stimulus package of $586 billion has revved up economic activities back to its usual form. And the results are seen in so many varying ways that can be noticed in:

• Major cities around China such as Shanghai and Beijing are given magnificent improvements. Most facilities in those cities are of International standards comparable to some of the best place around the globe.
• Second class cities even went through an impressive make over at all sense, gaining impressive investments along the way.
• English language are now used and spoken in particular by the youth
• The services they offered now are of comparable quality already with some great places abroad.

3. Increased consumption volume

Its population are increasingly consuming so much during the past years. This truth can be best seen in the streets of major cities. This however could pose a challenge for China, they should think ahead of addressing the ever increasing need of its own population while maintaining its fast-paced growth.

4. Leading renewable energy producer and user

China has been utilizing renewable energy resources to meet its domestic energy demand. Among its widely used energy resources are Solar and Wind which are evident in its usage in many of its public places. In fact, China makes use of the solar energy way greater than all the other countries in the world combined.

5. Significant increase in opportunity for private business sector

China has been extending an impressive effort of increasing the opportunity for private business sector to flourish in its system.

6. Relevant improvement in manufacturing quality

My visit made me see the many changes the Chinese government undertook to improve its quality standards in manufacturing. The world market is demanding a high standard and China took on the call.

7. Australia is ignoring China’s growth is not taking China seriously enough

Many Australians do not seem to share the same opinion as businessmen from other countries do; that China is making its way to become a global influence. Australians are not giving the Chinese much attention as they deserve, the result of which is losing many key business opportunities for which we could competitively offer especially in areas that we really have a distinct edge over the others. We have the capacity to make opportunities over these changes, and I am hoping to see a more aggressive plan of our government to put things into action the soonest time possible.

I just came back from China, and would say that it has shown an overwhelming growth in every sense of the word over a short time span. Below are seven simple facts about their economic growth that I have come to witness during my recent visit.

1. Robust economic growth

Everywhere you turn your eyes it will be met by astonishing progress in every angle possible. Infrastructure projects are really overwhelming. Construction ventures are ever present. In almost all aspects of economy, China is really achieving rapid and consistent growth. China has recorded an 8.5% yearly growth which is by itself a feat.  Indeed its economy is making an unquestionable impact that resonates to every country in the world. It is a kind of impact that made them independent from the clutches of power of United States.

2. Noticeable achievements in different fields

The stimulus package of $586 billion has revved up economic activities back to its usual form. And the results are seen in so many varying ways that can be noticed in:

• Major cities around China such as Shanghai and Beijing are given magnificent improvements. Most facilities in those cities are of International standards comparable to some of the best place around the globe.
• Second class cities even went through an impressive make over at all sense, gaining impressive investments along the way.
• English language are now used and spoken in particular by the youth
• The services they offered now are of comparable quality already with some great places abroad.

3. Increased consumption volume

Its population are increasingly consuming so much during the past years. This truth can be best seen in the streets of major cities. This however could pose a challenge for China, they should think ahead of addressing the ever increasing need of its own population while maintaining its fast-paced growth.

4. Leading renewable energy producer and user

China has been utilizing renewable energy resources to meet its domestic energy demand. Among its widely used energy resources are Solar and Wind which are evident in its usage in many of its public places. In fact, China makes use of the solar energy way greater than all the other countries in the world combined.

5. Significant increase in opportunity for private business sector

China has been extending an impressive effort of increasing the opportunity for private business sector to flourish in its system.

6. Relevant improvement in manufacturing quality

My visit made me see the many changes the Chinese government undertook to improve its quality standards in manufacturing. The world market is demanding a high standard and China took on the call.

7. Australia is ignoring China’s growth is not taking China seriously enough

Many Australians do not seem to share the same opinion as businessmen from other countries do; that China is making its way to become a global influence. Australians are not giving the Chinese much attention as they deserve, the result of which is losing many key business opportunities for which we could competitively offer especially in areas that we really have a distinct edge over the others. We have the capacity to make opportunities over these changes, and I am hoping to see a more aggressive plan of our government to put things into action the soonest time possible.