"It's easy to grow your business." That statement might evoke some robust dialogue and emotions! Many would say today's business climate is tougher and more competitive. To a certain extent, I would agree. At the same time, change is inevitable and business owners must change their old ways of doing business or get left in the dust. Do you remember the dreams you had when you first started your business? Have they been quickly clouded over by the day-to-day grind? Well, my objective is to spark some emotion, some discussion - but also provide some solutions - because there really are some simple, easy ways to start growing your business.

Open Your Mind to New Ideas
"If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got." A simple, yet profound statement. Many times we get the "I Know" mentality and shut ourselves down mentally to learning or receiving innovative ideas. When you learn, you grow; and when you grow, so too will your business. The exciting part is that the more you learn, the better you'll get at the game of business.

As Brad Sugars, Chairman of Action International says, "The only difference between your income now and your income in five years time will be the people you meet, the books you read, the tapes you listen to, and then how YOU apply it all." So ask yourself what action are you taking to open your mind to new ideas and strategies?

Here are a few other great starting points where potential goldmines may exist:

Time - Your Most Valuable Asset
If you lost your life savings, you can always get it back; but, if you waste even a minute of your life, it's gone forever. So it's important that you INVEST your time rather than SPEND it. As a business owner it's vital that every activity you undertake, every job you do, every minute of your working day is invested in doing something that only YOU can do. Always ask yourself this question - "Am I now doing the most important thing now that will give me the best Return on Investment for my time?" Also, work with the long term in mind, not just the instant rewards.

Cost Reduction vs. Income Growth
This is a common area for significant opportunity. It's also a "comfort zone" area where I find business owners tend to focus more on cost reduction vs. growing their top line revenues. I witnessed this quite a bit in the corporate world as well. Don't get me wrong - cost control and reduction can have a nice impact on the bottom line. However, there's a virtual floor (ie, you can only cut so much) and cost cutting usually occurs at the expense of something else. Alternatively, with a greater focus on income growth, there is no ceiling! The limits are only bounded by your imagination, your goals and the strategies you choose to implement.

Lifetime Value
Think about this for a moment, how much are you going to spend in your lifetime on something as simple as toilet paper? Thousands of dollars? How much will the average customer in your business spend with you over a lifetime?

It's vital that you know what your average customer's lifetime value is and what it means in economic terms to your business. Then ensure that you and your team have the proper systems, support and strategies in place to build a meaningful and lasting lifetime relationship.

Test and Measure
You can't manage what you don't measure. It's important that you first test, then measure, every system and strategy in your business - especially before a large investment of time, resources and money is made. For example, you may be blindly spending large sums of marketing dollars when you're not even tracking your ROI on each of your marketing investments. Similarly, with any system in your business - ensure it's tested on a small scale before a large scale effort is rolled out.

There are lots of other ideas and innovations for growing your business. These are just a few that will hopefully provide a jumpstart to get your business moving in the right direction.

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