Is your business stagnating? Are you unsure of how to expand and grow your business now that you have started it? Well, simply spending more capital and buying more assets isn’t the wisest way to grow your business. If you want to learn how to grow your business, you have to learn how to grow your brand. For that, you need to learn how to build better business relationships.
Here we talk about the different kinds of business relationships and offer business tips on how to build them.
What are Business Party Relationships and Why Should You Care?
“What are business party relationships, and what do they have to do with how to grow my business anyway?” you ask.
A business relationship is a relationship between you and any other second or third party that are stakeholders in your business. A stakeholder has any interest in the business or can be affected by or affect changes in your business. Stakeholders include your business partners, your customers, your employees, investors etc.
It is important to manage your relationships with the various stakeholders in your business because, as we said above, they both affect and are affected by your business. Your employees, for example, are crucial for your daily business operations. They are also most affected by changes in your business, like profits and loss, because it directly affects their livelihood. They already have an existing interest in the well being and growth of your venture. By boosting your relationship with them, you grow this interest and ensure their goodwill.
By building good business relationships, you ensure that you are not the only one interested in the prosperity of your business venture. Your other stakeholders help and support you in your business growth.
1. Business Partnerships
These are relationships between you and your direct business partners, who are financially invested in your business, or between you and other business owners. It is advantageous to build partnerships with other business owners who are in the same sector as you. This way, you cultivate friends and well-wishers rather than rivals. By working in tandem with other business owners, you foster a mutually beneficial rather than destructive relationship that can help grow your businesses together.
These kinds of business partnerships can be built by talking to and interacting with other business owners. Offer advice, business tips and help as well as accept the same from others. In fact, it is a good idea to offer help before you take it. This fosters a sense of indebtedness and obligation in the other party, which you can later capitalise on.
Going to trade shows and business fairs are a good way to meet other business owners and exchange ideas and advice. These trade shows help you display your products and services and also meet other entrepreneurs who offer similar products. You can interact with these entrepreneurs and exchange notes on your respective experiences in the market and what steps you take to overcome common issues. Offer small business tips to new and upcoming entrepreneurs. By exchanging business growth tips you also improve your business relationship.
2. Customer and Client Relationships
Your customers and clients are your most important stakeholder, and your relationship with them is the most crucial relationship that you need to focus on. You must work to improve customer loyalty and support since this can make or break your business. Building trust, communication and loyalty between you and your customer can be done in many different ways.
An easy way to find out how to grow your small business by improving customer relationships is to use customer surveys. Find out what your customers think about your business and what they think are its advantages and shortcomings. Ask them to rate your business on different parameters and offer suggestions on how they think you can improve. Your customers can offer you good business growth tips.
By doing this, you become aware of your customers' opinions while also offering them a way to interact with you and feel personally invested in your business.
Advertising, discounts, coupons and points systems can also be used to improve customer loyalty. By ensuring your customers stay with your business instead of taking their money elsewhere, you build your customer base and grow your business.
A dedicated customer support and servicing line can also help address your customers’ grievances and ensure that minor issues get fixed rather than causing them to leave your business.
3. Supplier/Vendor Relationships
These are relationships between you and any suppliers or vendors you have that deliver raw materials, labour or other services to your business. You must be on good terms with your suppliers since they ensure that your inventories are stocked up properly and on time so that your orders don’t get delayed and you can service your clients properly and on time.
Your suppliers are also important when you are thinking about how to grow your business since any expansion needs expansion of inventory and supplies. You need a good business relationship with these suppliers if you want to ensure your business’s smooth running and expansion.
Supplier relationships can be improved simply by good and ethical business practices. Pay your bills on time, give your suppliers ample time to fulfil their orders and be clear and precise in your demands and expectations, maintain the same suppliers as long as possible. Long term customers and clients are important to any business, including those of vendors and suppliers. By being a loyal customer, you will have a loyal vendor.
A good business growth tip is to make sure your contracts with your suppliers are sound and up to date. This prevents misunderstandings and disputes. While verbal agreements are often commonplace in businesses, especially when you have long business relationships, try to keep your work as much on paper as possible. This is because, while verbal agreements can be a show of trust and loyalty when gone sour, they can lead to major disputes. This worsens business relationships and is not good for your business.
4. Staff Relationships
Your staff is intrinsic to the day to day running and operations of your business. It is helpful to look at your business as part of a larger market ecosystem. Your staff is one of the very basic components of that ecosystem. The best business tips for growing your business focus on the growth and development of your staff.
A skilled, loyal and dedicated staff will ensure that your business runs smoothly and efficiently. To improve staff morale and dedication, you can have events and field trips outside of work. This improves bonding and helps foster a feeling of the community, ensuring your staff feels invested in your business. Training programs and workshops foster skill development that can be helpful for your business and help your employees become more useful to you.
The most basic way to keep your employees loyal is probably by making sure they get paid on time. Efficient and timely management of payroll, leaves, and attendance are important since these things directly affect your employees’ day-to-day living. Job security, medical leaves and healthcare benefits directly improve your employees’ quality of life and foster a sense of dedication and love for their workplace.
If you are thinking of how to grow your small business, you should definitely be thinking of how to grow your employees.
Also Read:
1) Tricks to Increase Sales in Festive Season
2) Steps to Survive a Recession and Grow Your Business Even in a Bad Economy
3) 13 Tips To Save Money When Running A Small Business
4) Easy ways to maintain your wealth if you are a business owner
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FAQs
Q. What is the most important part of building Business Relationships?
Ans. Communication and interaction is the most important aspect of building good business relationships. Good and transparent communication builds trust and loyalty, which are the basis of any good business relationship. Being authentic, honest and dependable in your business practices is important.
Q. What are some ways of improving customer loyalty?
Ans. Taking customer opinion and suggestions frequently and seriously is important in improving customer loyalty. Your customers should feel heard by you.
Q. How do business relationships affect brand value?
Ans. Having good business relationships boosts your reputation in the market among your peers and potential clients. Your reputation as a businessman is crucial to maintaining your brand value.