As a young entrepreneur, you will face many challenges in today’s competitive business environment. I’m pretty sure you don’t want your newly started business to close down within months – at least not due to low sales. It takes time to establish a profitable venture, but you still need to cover your expenses and hit breakeven to keep your business afloat. The first major goal of any new startup is survival and make its name in the market. If you manage to do both of these things, you’ll eventually start earning profits.

Here a few useful tips on how to increase your sales as a young entrepreneur.

1.     Build Relationships

A traditional yet effective way of improving sales is to hold on to your customers. It is better to focus on nurturing your relationship with existing customers. How will that help? This tactic allows you to target customers who are already using your product or service, making it easy for you convince them to consider you again. Apart from that, you’ll see a rise in the number of referrals. If your services and products are up to the mark, why wouldn’t regular customers recommend others to shop from your business? Try it and see the difference.

2.     Go Online

If you haven’t started using the web for your business, it’s pretty obvious why your sales figures aren’t hitting the mark. There is a reason why all your competitors have a well-established online presence. Start by researching on which social media networks your target audience is mostly found. Set up your business pages on relevant platforms and start engaging with your customers. The best part is that social media sites don’t charge a dime for using their platform. If you are successful, you can take a step further and launch an eCommerce website to sell both physically and digitally.

3.     Limited-Time Offers and Promotions

It’s always a good strategy to offer special discounts to your customers. That way, you’ll experience an increase in sales and attract new consumers. Limited-time sales don’t mean that you drop your prices below your actual cost – just reduce your profit margin and capture your customers by providing the same high-quality products at better prices. Satisfied customers eventually become promoters who will benefit your business in the short- and long-term.

4.     Consumers are the Kings of the Market

The key to running a successful business is to master the art of listening. And who should you listen to? Your customers! They are the kings of the market, and you need to find out exactly what they expect from you. If you want to launch the perfect product, all you need is to tick all the boxes off the checklist of your potential customers’ requirements. If you fail to meet their demands, it will lead to people losing interest in your product. Listen to all their feedback and make improvements promptly to give off the impression that you take your customers’ opinions seriously. Do that, and watch your sales skyrocket.

5.     Raise Your Prices

Slightly increasing the prices of your products is a great way to increase your revenue, but make sure you are able to justify the change. People nowadays value quality – price doesn’t matter so much if the quality of the product justifies it. However, this doesn’t mean that you go overboard and overprice your products, as you may end up pricing yourself out of the market.

6.     Hire a Professional Salesperson

Since time immemorial, salespeople have proved to be an effective sales booster, presenting products or services in a positive light and driving customers through the doors of businesses.

If you are wondering how you’ll pay for their service, there is little to worry about. An experienced and talented sales negotiator can make a considerable difference to achieving your sales targets, and they are often remunerated on a part-commission basis, which means the more they sell, the greater their reward. Of course, no one can guarantee a boost in your sales. Then again, being a good risk-taker is one of the inherent traits of an entrepreneur.

Steven McMeechan 

Steven McMeechan is a strategic marketing and communications specialist with over twenty years’ experience in senior marketing management roles across a range of industries including Information Technology and Financial Services. He works for Capstone Financial Planning and lives in Melbourne Australia.