Empires aren’t built overnight—and neither are businesses. Every successful entrepreneur has had to grow their company from the ground up with blood, sweat, and tears in order to see their vision through. You can, too, by following these tips for expansion after launching your startup off the ground.

1. Optimize the Sales Pipeline

You’ve laid the groundwork, secured the funding, and signed all of the documents. Finally, you can call yourself a proud business owner! Hopefully, customers will soon begin pouring in as planned, but if you’re not seeing the type of revenue you hoped for right off the bat, it might be time to refer to your business plan and see how you might be able to optimize the sales pipeline for brighter months ahead.

So, what’s the secret? Here are a few of the top suggestion to increase sales at your small business:

• Ask for referrals – Trust is one of the most important factors driving consumers’ purchasing decisions, and as a new company, fresh out of the gates, it may be difficult to point to a past track record of success that proves your legitimacy. Asking for referrals from family and friends could help bolster your sales by word of mouth.
• Research your top customers – You might consider analyzing your target demographic so that you can market to your audience more effectively.
• Automate prospecting – As a small business owner, you should always be prospecting for new leads, but the time and effort to put in the work can be rather exhausting. Setting up automatic prospecting tools as simple as an online plugin that allows people to schedule an appointment without picking up the phone can make a huge difference.

If you’re feeling stressed about an empty sales pipeline looming in the months ahead, do your best to keep your head on straight. Wind down with relaxing Teavana tea or vegan CBD gummies by CBDfx to balance your mind and tap into your inner creativity.

• Bolster Your Online Presence

Another effective way to grow your business is to boost your online visibility through digital marketing. There are many different channels you can use to gain more traffic to your website: search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertisements, email campaigns, the list goes on and on. You could hire an influencer on social media to put your brand in the spotlight, but something as small as claiming your local business listing can drive big results.

• Prioritize Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Once you get a steady stream of leads coming in, it’s essential that you nurture them carefully—and investing in a CRM platform is one of the best ways to do so. This technology allows you to keep track of your interactions so you can follow up in a timely manner without having to remember each instance on a case by case basis.

A good CRM can automatically send emails at predetermined dates, such as a happy birthday message with a discount code. This enables you to push leads down the sales funnel to earn the conversion, and once they convert into a customer, you’ll be able to effortlessly stay in touch with them so you stay at the top of mind and retain their business.

1. Hire a Team of Employees

At this stage in your company’s growth, it might be time to hire a team of employees who can help you take on the increased demand. It might be tempting to keep labor costs low and profit margins high, but if you’re too short-staffed to deliver a satisfactory experience, you’ll end up losing customers and hurt yourself more in the long run.

Remember, if you’re not ready to hire full-time, salaried employees, you can always opt for part-time workers or a seasonal crew for peak business.

• Scale at a Sustainable Rate

The most important tip for growing your business is to avoid biting off more than you can chew. It’s important to be realistic as you scale and break into new markets, otherwise you risk letting details fall through the cracks, causing the company you’ve built to unravel.

Keep these suggestions in mind as you reach for greater levels of success and you’ll certainly note the improvement to your bottom line.

This year, the United States saw a record-breaking number of displaced workers file for unemployment benefits after the coronavirus pandemic spurred widespread layoffs across the company.

As businesses begin to reopen and the economy slowly recovers, millions of people will be on the hunt for employment opportunities. How do you attract the top talent in your direction?

These days, it’s no longer a matter of finding the best employee out of a pool of applicants—they have to want to work for you, too. A younger generation of Millennials who are taking over the business world care about more than compensation; they’re looking to work for a company that they can stand behind and grow with, beneath the guidance of an employer who cares just as much about their career as they do themselves.

If you’re having trouble recruiting the type of talented employees you’re searching for, here are some strategies that you can use to attract better job applicants who are more qualified for the job.

1. Build Your Social Media Presence

Social media goes far beyond personal connections these days. LinkedIn still takes the title for the best platform for professional networking, but nearly every single company has a profile on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter. You may find it a bit strange, but it really is common practice these days.

Creating an account is in your best interest because it enables you to reach Millennial audiences where you have a better chance of finding the ideal candidate. These workers are in such high demand because they bring fresh, innovative ideas to boost sales, cut costs, and improve your bottom line.

Whoever is in charge of managing the social media account should be mindful to make a great impression. Speak in a language that’s fun and relatable, but be careful when posting about any subjective stance you take on a social issue, such as BLM. On the one hand, some might commend your willingness to stand up for your convictions, but others could find if offensive and seek employment at a company that leaves politics out of the discussion.

• Act Friendly and Approachable, but also Professional

Remember, the way employers interact with their team members has changed at most cutting-edge companies (which is what you should try to position yourself as to attract better talent!). Leadership as drifted away from a rigid tier of superiority toward more of a mutually beneficial relationship.

As you engage on social media, let your personality shine through so that whoever’s on the other end can tell there’s a real person behind the screen, not just some company figurehead. When you eventually get candidates in for an interview, make them feel warm and welcome rather than cold and intimidating. Ideally, they’ll feel at home the moment they step in the door—but don’t go too overboard with the familiarities, or they might make them question your professionalism.

1. Add an Extra Touch to Conduct Panel Interviews

To determine whether a job applicant is a good fit for the position, you’ll need to see if they demonstrate the qualities of a good employee. Someone might have all the right skills and experience on paper, but if they don’t have the interpersonal skills to get along with the team, it’ll never work out.

But very few people can honestly say that they enjoy taking time out of their day to sit through interviews, progressing through each back-to-back conversation wondering if they said the right or wrong this. So, sweeten the deal by selling the experience in the job description!

What cool perks can you use to wow a would-be applicant? Perhaps you can offer boba or kombucha on tap? A set of arcade games in the break room? A set of giant swings hanging from the lofted ceiling?

If you’re just getting your startup off the ground, you probably can’t afford shiny, big-ticket items, but even just the offer to pick up Starbucks can make you seem like you value their time as much as their own.

Think these tips through then revisit your recruitment strategy to achieve better results!