Whether you’re starting a new business or looking to expand an existing one, there will always be a constant cycle of identifying business challenges and opportunities, exploring solutions, and assigning resources.
At times, the sheer volume of business needs that need solutions can seem insurmountable and resources remain limited, but there is a way to tackle them systematically and boost productivity – by turning them into fully-scoped, stackable projects that are completed with the help of the right talent!
Follow these 4 small business growth hack steps to start turning your most pressing business needs into manageable projects today!
Step 1: Identify your challenges or opportunities for growth.
The first step to this small business growth hack strategy is to reflect on where your business is now and ask yourself some key questions:
Using the above prompts, write down the challenge or opportunity that you would like to focus on to help your small business grow.
Example:
You own a health food store. In 5 years you want to double revenue and become the number one option for healthy living in your city. You’re currently having issues with online ordering and need to change how you streamline your process.
The Challenge: You want to start using social media and digital marketing strategies but don’t have the time to start.
Step 2: Identify the expertise that you need.
Once you’ve identified your challenge or opportunity, the next step in creating a successful growth strategy for your business will be to think about what types of expertise you will need to achieve your goals.
Examples:
Step 3: Prioritize and scope your project(s).
Now that you’ve identified the areas of expertise you will need, prioritize your list and turn them into one project, or many “stackable” projects completed in stages. Scoping a project will help you list out all the to-dos in one place and focus on the key tasks for your growth strategy. Breaking them down into multiple projects allows you to focus on the priority tasks first.
After you have scoped your project you will need help implementing it. There are several ways you can look to achieve this help. One option is to hire full-time employees for each area of expertise, but this will require a lot of money and time. You could also hire junior employees and train them, but this takes even more time. What if, instead, students could work on your real-world projects for course credit under the mentorship of their professors?
At Riipen, we want to help business owners turn their business challenges into fully scoped projects that can then be posted to our open marketplace. Your projects will be immediately visible to instructors and faculty at hundreds of higher education institutions looking to add real-world experiences to students enrolled in their courses.
Why work with student talent? Here are just a few benefits:
You can join Riipen’s network as one of over 20,000 employers posting their projects to the largest experiential learning platform in the world and collaborating with bright student talent. To get started, use the Riipen Project Creation Tool, or explore the Riipen Project Template Library for inspiration!
Examples:
Step 4: Find talent with the right expertise.
So your project is ready to go, the final step is finding the right talent. Instead of the usual job boards or LinkedIn post, publish your project on Riipen and you can match with dozens of talent at once through a Riipen course!
Here’s how it works:
If you already have your free Riipen employer account, it’s easy to publish your project, or choose from our full library of project templates for a quick start.
Otherwise, sign up for your free employer account and get access to thousands of student talent from 400+ top universities and colleges from across North America, and around the world.
Never worked with student talent before? Download our Employer Success Guide to Working with Student Talent.
What are you waiting for? Whether you’re a nonprofit looking for some extra help, a solopreneur with ambitious plans, or a small business owner with growth projects collecting dust, use the above small business growth strategy to turn your business challenges into stackable projects and connect with the right talent today!
Don’t just take our word for it, check out our Wall of Love for how dozens of businesses and nonprofits just like yours have already collaborated with student talent to grow and expand their brands.
Don’t have a Riipen account? Create a free account today!
About the Author:
Victoria King is Senior Business Consultant at Riipen. Victoria started as a Riipen intern while earning her Bachelor of Commerce degree at Dalhousie University. Working at Riipen sparked a passion in Victoria for providing students with better experiential learning opportunities in their education while at the same time supporting businesses to grow and achieve their goals with student talent.
This content was originally published here.
