How to Grow Your Small Business in Africa

Micro and Small businesses in Africa get most of their customers within the local estate or village surrounding the business. The challenge with such business is that most do not grow as much due to a large extent little effort to attract new customers.

Let’s look at a few ways a small business can use to expand its customer base beyond the local estate or village;

Get Your Business listed

Advancement in technology has enabled virtually all business to have a digital presence over and above traditional listing of yellow pages. Register your business on online directories such as Google maps, Yellow pages, Business Listing and many more. Ensure that you put accurate information about products/service offerings, contacts, physical location, hours of operation etc

Develop a website

A website is an invaluable asset in this day and age. Start small, you do not need a complicated website, all you need is a basic site that gives customers an overview of what your business is about. A website also allows your satisfied customers to share information about your business to their friends.

Create a Facebook business page

A facebook page is a great way to have an online presence .For most parts it’s easier to set it up and maintain. A Facebook page will allow you to get followers, post updates about your products/services

Focus on a single product or service before expanding

The temptation of offering customers as much product or service offering is always there for most businesses. The danger of this is that you may run the risk of compromising on quality hence loose the same customer. It’s better to focus on one great product which will give you repeat clients than many half baked products that you can barely sell. Strive to develop trust and loyalty from one product then later on use the trust to introduce complimentary product or service.

Keep your current customers happy

It costs a lot more to gain new customers than it does to retain the ones you already have. So make sure you’re following up with your customers and checking that they’re happy with what you offered them. Encourage your customers to rate or review you online and let them know that their feedback is appreciated. A valued customer is a happy customer.

This in turn helps you, because they’re also more likely to tell their friends about you, which will spread a positive awareness of your business throughout the community.

You want to make sure that people know the face behind it all. When you connect a face to your business, it humanizes your company and makes it feel more inviting and reliable, which is what makes small businesses unique in the first place.

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