Growing takes grit \u2013 and these small businesses have what it takes. Here\u2019s how they plan to grow revenue across the next 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aussie small businesses know that thriving in the current market takes grit, but nearly two in five business owners expect their revenue to increase over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six small business owners share what they plan to achieve this time tomorrow \u2013 and how they intend to make their growth plans reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first decision Janine Earl, owner of event health and beauty service Pure Chica<\/a>, made to boost revenue was to increase pricing to make up for the loss in capital across the past few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany businesses are trying to reduce staff costs and increase pricing to stay competitive while making a decent margin,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An uptick in pricing has been necessary for Pure Chica to keep moving ahead and make a profit, says Janine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is becoming ever harder to make the same profits with increased award rates for staff and contractors, plus superannuation, so we are being transparent with our clients about our costs to justify price increases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Louise Brady founded children\u2019s clothing line Sukoo the Label<\/a> with the aim of bringing a more sustainable approach to the fashion industry. Now, she\u2019s bringing that same innovation to her social media and organic search strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve set up a TikTok account, where we focus on genuine storytelling,\u201d she says. \u201cInstagram content does not work on TikTok. Consumers no longer want highly curated, perfect branding \u2013 they want more of a stripped back, personal connection to brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ninety per cent of Louise\u2019s sales used to come from Instagram. Now, however, revenue from organic search on Google has risen to become almost a third of her gross revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI also got on top of my KPI trackers this year, using data to identify where we were losing people on our website, and trying to solve our high page-exit rates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her data-driven strategy to customer engagement has helped Louise both foster her brand and drive sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paula Glynn, director of marketing agency and small business Pixelstorm<\/a>, will take a similarly data-first approach by introducing a new email marketing strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOver the next 12 months, we will focus on segmentation and targeting, as well as email marketing campaigns with offers for our clients,\u201d says Paula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEmail marketing automation is an amazing way of generating leads and revenue. Once properly set up, all you need to do is optimise to achieve results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zoe Gordon, founder of online gift retailer Byron Bay Gifts<\/a>, says she\u2019ll be taking a people-first approach to customer relations in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur approach over the next 12 months will be to scale the focus of our corporate manager to work with our existing corporate customers and ensure they are getting the best out of their relationship with us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It won\u2019t be a one-size-fits-all solution, however, as Zoe plans to take an individualised, rather than blanket, approach to new and existing customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis will include a cold calling approach where we contact prospects who don\u2019t have an existing relationship with us, such as in real estate and finance,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarah Greenaway\u2019s 12-month strategy for growing her girls\u2019 sportswear business Lava Tribe<\/a> is two-pronged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy plan is to build community-level brand partnerships to increase awareness locally, while also reducing advertising and shipping costs,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will concentrate on buffering the winter slumps we\u2019ve encountered since we started by shifting our marketing efforts to the northern hemisphere. That plan is already in action with a number of influencer and content partnerships being forged over the past few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also been expanding our wholesale marketing efforts to increase our order volumes and decrease unit costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nOrganic search<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Email marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Customer loyalty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Expansion plans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Repeat customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n