The hard truth is that growing a small business is never easy. The success of your small business depends on a number of factors ranging from your range of products to employee training and marketing. But even with all these in place, growth does not happen overnight. In fact, studieshave shown that only a small number of businesses get to survive beyond the first five years. However, with the right techniques, lots of hard work and good luck, you can grow your business to the point where the benefits will be worth all the efforts.

This article contains some essential tips that you can put in place and watch your business grow.

1.Know your customers

One very important secret to growing a small business is a proper understanding of your customer. Unless you are able to determine and understand the needs of your target customers, you may not be able to develop products and services that fit them.

A proper understanding of your target customer includes knowing what they want when they want them, and why they want them. Thankfully, this information can be gotten when you conduct a customer survey or develop what is known as a buyer persona.

You should also encourage your current customers to provide honest and brutal feedback about your products and services. This helps you get inside the head of your customer, understand how they are feeling, and gain insights that will help you provide useful products and better services.

2.Offer quality customer service

It is not enough to understand your customers and offer goods and services they want, you also have to go out of your way to make them feel special. This is one of the fastest ways to get them hooked on your business. Dozens of studies have proven that customers prefer businesses that offer customized customer experience, and high-quality customer service.

Going the extra mile to make your customers feel special not only improves customer loyalty but will also cause you to spend less on marketing. Your current customers will be only too happy to do word of mouth marketing on your behalf, leaving you with funds that can be channelled to other aspects of your business.

3.Utilise social media

As a small business owner, social media is one of the most powerful tools you can use to grow your business. This is where you will meet most of your new customers, and also the platform where you can engage people that matter to your business.

Social media also plays a vital role in helping your keep abreast with the current trends in your industry, especially when you sign up for alerts. You can also use this platform to stay relevant and keep ahead of the competition, by being active online and sharing helpful and relevant content with your followers.

Social media makes it easy for your business to reach hundreds of people at the same time, and in one place; and the best part of it is that you don't have to spend a ton of money. So, whether you have unlimited funds or you are marketing on a shoestring budget, social media is a great way to get your message out to the people that matter.

4.Explore sources of business financing

One of the most common misconceptions today is that you don't need money to run a business, only vision. Studies have shown that insufficient finance is one of the reasons business fail. You may have a lot of passion and huge visions about your business, but if you don't have enough funds, you may be unable to push your business as much as you may want.

As a small business owner, it is therefore very important that you explore sources of additional financing for your business. In fact, unless you have really deep pockets, don't hesitate to take loans or turn down prospective investors.

There are almost a thousand and one ways you can raise more money for your small business, however, be sure to consider the pros and cons of every option before making a firm commitment.

5.Research the competition

One of the ways to grow your business is to offer the best in the market. However, it can be difficult to achieve this is a competitive industry. No matter how unique your business offerings are, there will always be one or two other businesses offering the same or similar products and services.

However, you can have the competitive edge by researching the competition, so that you can know where to improve on. You may want to start by visiting your competitors' websites, social media profiles, and other online marketing platforms. The information you glean from these sources will give you the insight you need to make your business better than the competition.