How Do I Grow My Business or Christian Ministry?
So you’ve started your Christian business or ministry, you’ve put an “OPEN” sign on the door, built your website and you’re ready to be successful. Now what? Are you going to sit and wait for clients to find you or are you going out to find them?
Hopefully, you responded that you’re ready to be an active participant in your business or ministry growth, because true and lasting business requires involvement. Synonyms of “grow” include: develop, multiply, expand and extend. These are all very active words which require action, so let’s think about your role in terms of these words.
- Develop – Every business and ministry needs to develop a plan. One of the best decisions you can make before you ever open the door is to have a marketing plan completed. Many banks and venture capitalists will not even loan you money without a fully completed business plan. If you haven’t taken the time to develop a plan either on paper or on video (yes, that’s a new trend), DO THAT TODAY! If you have written a business or ministry plan, congratulations, but you’re not done yet. Business plans are general designs; a wise leader will break those general designs down into annual, quarterly and even monthly goals with steps to attain them. Most importantly, remember that plans can change so constantly be developing and growing your vision steps.
- Multiply – To grow you must duplicate or multiply your vision, your clients, and your participation in your business. Teach others what you are offering and let them spread the word. The best advertising is word of mouth advertising where clients, friends and colleagues are sharing with one another.
- Extend & Expand – Two similar words that represent growth but have different meanings. Extend is to stretch out, to hold out or to lengthen. Expand is to grow in size, volume and/or scope. Extending yourself, your networks, and your vision to others is a key to expanding your business or ministry. Be open to meeting new people, networking as much as possible and clearly explaining your developed or developing mission and vision. Without extending your reach you won’t expand your business.
You should always be aware of your role in your business or ministry’s growth. In the beginning, you are responsible for the vision, the mission and the excitement. You must communicate it to others in a way that they understand, but can also own it for themselves. That ownership leads to them multiplying your vision and sharing it with their circle of friends and colleagues.
As your company or ministry grows, you might be sharing the networking responsibilities with employees or volunteers, which can be a great advantage. You can be at multiple events at the same time and reach completely different audiences. Remember that everyone has a unique style of communication and because of that your employee or volunteer might connect better than you with certain demographics or personalities. The key here is to make sure that the overall vision is still the same – so your role is to always be managing and communicating within your organization.
If you’re still fuzzy on how this applies to real life, here are some tools and techniques that may help you grow:
- PROMOTE Share your vision, mission, and services with your family, friends, colleagues, and church base.
- NETWORK Look for local face-to-face networking events and attend as many as you can to meet fellow members of your community. Have a simple and focused 30 second “elevator pitch” for your group introduction or your one-on-one networking time. Give others a taste of your vision and most importantly the excitement you have in that elevator pitch.
- SOCIALIZE Use social media. You don’t have to be on every platform out there, but you need to be on a few. Research the statistics for what businesses or ministries do best on each network and focus your efforts where you can see the most rewards. If you’re not sure where to start the top 5 are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+. Choosing 3 of those 5 is a basic start.
- NURTURE Keep good records of your efforts. Enter the business cards you’ve collected into a CRM and follow-up! Don’t let the contacts go dry, e-mail, call or even pop a card into the mail to every person you’ve met. If you’re meeting people online, you can be more casual, but keep the lines of communication open with direct messages and make sure to get to know them. Networking, whether in person or on social media, is all about nurturing relationships.
- ANALYZE Constantly check where you are with your overall vision and mission. If you’re checking often, it’s easier to get back on track if you’ve gotten off-track. Sometimes a business vision will change, make adjustments when necessary, but do it with wise counsel.
There are many more tools and techniques to help you grow, but the basics really can create a solid foundation for success. So start with your business or ministry plan and get growing!
~ Nicole "Indy" Beus is the owner of Indy's Services a Social Media Management, Graphic Design, and Virtual Assistance company since 2006. To learn more about her, follow online on Twitter: @Indys, Facebook: Indy's Services, or Indy's website indyses.net.