So you started your dream business, and now every day at work finally doubles as a day you are passionate about. There is no better feeling in the world than following your dream, except for maybe growing that dream into an empire. The first week of May is focused on bringing awareness and helpful resources to small businesses everywhere. As a Missouri-based mutual insurance company, we love supporting our state’s small businesses in every way we can. Today we have just the tips you need to start making big moves with your small business.

Transform previous customers into a lifelong following.

Whether your business provides a good or a service, the best way to grow your customer base is to start at home. Turn past customers into lifelong fans of your business by incentivizing them to return again and again. You can recapture your previous audience in a variety of ways–send an email campaign that invites them back to your store, offer a referral program that gives both your past customer and their friend a discount on products or services, campaign for positive reviews, send a small gift to existing customers to thank them for their patronage–the list goes on and on! 

Never stop researching.

The biggest part of starting a business from the ground up is doing the research on your market. This includes investigating the competition, understanding the most competitive price-point for your product or service, and so much more. Now that you have successfully gotten your business idea off the ground and on the market, the research can’t simply end. In order to stay competitive, keeping up on market trends and best practices for setting pricing is necessary for continued success. It is also imperative to keep an edge when it comes to marketing. One big mistake marketers often make is sticking with what works without looking to the future. Technology is always evolving. What used to be a solid tactic may now be obsolete in some markets. Look to your competition to discover how they market and how you can do it better!

Interact with your customers.

One of the most effective ways to sell your brand is to give it that human touch. Center your marketing around the people behind the product, and you will be able to attract so many more customers. Attend trade shows, present at conferences, send hand-written thank-you notes, post interactively to social media, and anything else you can think of to solidify a human presence into your brand identity.

Back your business with the best insurance.

After all the work you put into making your dream come to life, the last thing you need is a large claim to deal with. Businesses are constantly at risk for liability claims, and one way to defend yourself against the potential onslaught of lawsuits is to back your business by partnering with an insurance company you can trust. As a local, Missouri-based mutual, nobody knows the hazards your business may face better than all of us at BMI. We know and insure against the weather-related hazards that are most common to the area, but we also specialize in small-business insurance–something those large, nationwide companies can’t understand as well as we do. Call your BMI agent today to learn all about what we do, and partner with a company you can trust to protect your dream as it grows!