Articles

Business Development Tips

Jana M. Kemp

Businesses grow because of good outreach, communication and ongoing employee education. This week’s travels have uncovered three areas for growing your business.

First, smiling makes a difference. You and everyone in your business can help the business grow by smiling. Why? Because by smiling you are letting others know that you are willing to be approached, willing to answer questions, and willing to help others find what they are looking for. In retail locations, briefly smiling at customers creates an inviting atmosphere that encourages people to stay and shop. In office settings, smiling lets others know that you see them and are willing to work together.

Second, letter writing is a part of your communication tool-set. Whether you are writing letters that get mailed or e-mailed, you are still using text to tell your story and invite interaction, problem-solving, and purchasing. A column reader wrote recently “do we really need to buy pre-written letter templates?” My answer is yes, for employees who are trapped in instant-message mode and thumb-typing short messages without punctuation, “old-style” letter templates are indeed needed. And writing is not a skill-set everyone brought to the work-world, so the letter templates become writing education tools.

Third, ongoing education at your worksite, in credited classes, or at workshops is important to employee development and business growth. On the small business development front, the Small Business Information Forum, sponsored by a variety of state agencies, is being held this Thursday, September 22 at the Idaho Department of Agriculture in Boise. The Forum includes informational presentations from these offices: the Secretary of State, Department of Finance, Unclaimed property, Business reporting, the State Tax Commission, Industrial Commission, and the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor. Contact: Lola Barnett for more information and to register – 334-6032. The next Forum will be November 17th.

Whether you pursue in-office employee development and business growth strategies, or look to templates, classes and workshops, the very pursuit of self and business improvement creates opportunities for the business to grow. Look for opportunities to enlarge your knowledge, to flash that wonderful smile of yours, and to share your ideas for solving problems, improving situations and for growing your customer base.

Action Items: Genuinely smile more. Improve your communication and writing skills. Participate in information and education workshops.
Reprint Permission: The author is willing to grant reprint permissions. Please contact Jana Kemp: jana@janakemp.com or call 208-367-1701.