Learning how to grow your business isn’t just a worthy goal; growing your business is often a necessity for your business’s survival and your economic well-being. What can you do to get your business beyond the bare sustenance level? What can you do to turn it into the income-generating powerhouse you envision? Try one of more of these growth strategies. All have been successfully used by other businesses and, with some planning and investment, will work for you.
学习如何发展业务不仅是一个有价值的目标，也是企业生存和提高经济能力的必要条件。 我们该做些什么来提高公司盈利呢？如何把它变成想象中的创收增长极？下面这些策略可以为你提供一些经验，这些都是其他公司尝试过的有效策略，相信加以计划和投资也能为你所用。
1. Penetrate your existing market.
巩固现有市场
When you think about how to grow your business, the first thing that probably comes to mind is getting new customers. But the customers you already have are your best bet for increasing your sales; it’s easier and more cost-effective to get people who are already buying from you to buy more than to find new customers and persuade them to buy from you.
当你考虑如何发展业务时，可能想到的第一件事就是获得新客户。但已经拥有的客户是增加销售额的最佳选择。相比去寻找新的顾客、并说服他们购买的而言，让那些已经从你这里购买过东西的人购买更多显得更简单、性价比更高。
2. Ask for referrals.
鼓励客户推荐其他客户
That's not to say that getting new customers is a bad approach. One of the easiest ways to do this is to ask your current customers for referrals. Having good products and great customer service and just assuming that your customers are passing the word about your business isn’t going to do much to increase your customer base; you have to actively seek referrals. During or after every job or sale, ask your satisfied customer if he knows anyone else who would be interested in your products or services.
获得新客户并不是一个坏方法。要做到这一点最简单的方法之一是要求您的当前客户推荐其他客户。有良好的产品和良好的客户服务，假设你的客户会为你“美言几句”，但这并不会扩大你的客户群，这时候你就要积极鼓励客户帮你推荐其他客户。在每次销售或者工作的过程中以及完成工作后，问一下对你满意的客户是否认识其他会对你们的产品或者服务感兴趣的人。
3. Innovate your product or service.
创新产品或服务
Discovering and promoting new uses for your products or services is a great way to both get existing customers to buy more and attract new customers.
发现并推广您的产品或服务的新用途，既能让现有客户购买更多，也能吸引新客户。
4. Extend your market reach.
扩大市场范围
There are several ways of growing your business by making your product or service available to a new pool of customers.
有几种方法可以通过将您的产品或服务提供给新的客户群来发展您的业务。
The most obvious is to open stores in new locations, such as opening a store or kiosk in a new town. New locations can also be virtual, such as a website with an online store. Another approach is to extend your reach through advertising. Once you’ve identified a new market, you might advertise in select media that targets that market. If your new market consists of a younger demographic, you may want to use social media for advertising.
最有效的方法就是在新的地方开设商店，例如在新市镇开设商店或售货亭。新的位置也可以是虚拟的，例如开设在线商店。另一种方法是通过广告来扩大覆盖面。一旦你瞄准了一个新的市场，你可以在针对该市场的特定媒体上做广告。如果你的新市场是由一个更年轻的顾客群组成的，你可能需要使用社交媒体做广告。
5. Participate in trade shows.
参加贸易展会
Trade shows can be a great way to grow too. Because trade shows draw people who are already interested in the type of product or service you offer. The trick is to select the trade shows you participate in carefully, seeking the right match for your product or service.
展会也是企业发展的好方法，因为贸易展会吸引了已经对你提供的产品或服务类型感兴趣的人。诀窍是仔细选择您参与的展会，为您的产品或服务寻找合适的机会
。
6. Conquer a niche market.
占领利基市场
Remember the analogy of the big fish in the small pond? That’s essentially how this strategy for growing your business works. The niche market is the pond; a narrowly defined group of customers. Think of them as a subset whose needs are not being met and concentrate on meeting those unmet needs.
还记得小池塘里大鱼的比喻吗？ 这就是帮助公司发展的基本战略。利基市场是池塘; 规模较小的目标客户群就是大鱼。把它们看作是一个需求没有得到满足的小团体，不断去满足他们的需求。
7. Contain your costs.
控制成本
Surprised? Bear in mind that when we’re talking about growing your business, we’re actually talking about growing your business’s bottom line. And the difference between pre-tax and post-tax money can make this a very effective growth strategy. There are two main approaches to cutting costs; liquidating your “loser” products and improving your inventory turnover.
惊讶吗？请记住，当我们谈论公司发展时，我们实际上是在讨论如何提高净收益。税前和税后的差额可以有效提高净收益，主要有两种方法削减成本：清理你的“失败者”产品，并改善你的库存周转。
8. Diversify your products or services.
多元化的产品和服务
The key to successful growth through diversification is similarity. You want to focus on the related needs of your already established market or on market segments with similar needs and characteristics.
通过多元化成功发展的关键是相似性。您要专注于您已经建立的市场的相关需求，或需求和特点相似的细分市场。
9. Franchising
特许经营
The stories of entrepreneurs who have become both well known and well heeled due to franchising their small businesses are legion - and not just stories. If you have a successful business and can develop a system that ensures that others can duplicate your success, franchising may be the fast track for growing your business.
许多企业家都通过特许经营小企业的方式成为了知名人士。如果你有一个成功的企业，并且可以开发一个系统，以确保其他人可以复制你的成功，特许经营可能是发展业务的快速通道。
10. Exporting
走出去
Expanding into international markets can also be a powerful boost to your business’s bottom line. Like franchising, this is a way of growing your business that requires quite a commitment of time and resources, but can be extremely rewarding.
扩展到国际市场也是可以推动企业发展的。就像特许经营一样，这是增长业务的一种方式，需要相当多的时间和资源，但同时也是非常有益的。
There you have it; how to grow your business. Don’t let this list overwhelm you; pick one or two of these ideas that are suitable to your business and your circumstances and get your plan for growing your business underway.
这些就是帮助企业发展的几大建议了。但不要觉得消化不了，可以选择一两条适合你的企业的方式，因而制定相关计划帮助企业发展。