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Every business has its own success story to share about how they got started on a shoestring and managed to survive among the competitors with tight budgets and high operating costs. 

Today, while some small/medium businesses consider making money to pay the bills and enjoy a vacation to be the epitome of success, for others, keeping their business ‘small’ is simply not sufficient. After making a profit on products/services sold to customers, businesses often think about possible ways to outgrow their own expectations, and stand as a tough competitor to the biggies in the industry. 

Let’s admit it. Scaling a business is a tough nut to crack. It demands flexibility, expertise and enormous planning. In the beginning it's about donning various hats, i.e. dealing with sales and marketing, followed by product/service development, financing, customer satisfaction, etc. 

Bootstrapping your small/medium business through lean years although seems unappealing, but by acquiring valuable information and doing a little bit of research of your own, you will witness your business growth shoot up like a rocket. However, by investing in strategies that does not align with the market insight, you would never win. Instead, learn all the hacks to grow your business in the outgrowth economy. 

1. Research your competition - Before selling off your product/service to wider masses, you need to research the competition. For this purpose you can use different platforms such as Ad Beat, Similar Web, etc. They scan the landing pages and uncover rival’s online advertising strategies. 

2. Build a robust sales funnel - The proven way to grow your business is to build a sales funnel. It helps you automate and scale your business quickly. However, carefully conceptualise before developing one. 

3. Lookout for new opportunities - Understand the demographic (from distribution channels to direct competitors, foreign markets to other potential industries) and identify new opportunities.

4. Experiment with customer management system - Manual transaction tracking becomes cumbersome with a growing business. Depending on the line of your work or requirements, utilise customer management system such as SalesForce, InfusionSoft, etc.

5. Create your own mailing list - Email list is one of the effective approaches to grow a business in a rocket speed. Email your clients on a regular basis and provide value.

6. Explore strategic partnerships - Partnership with the right business can make a world of difference. The best partners are the non-competing business with similar client profile as yours. 

7. Leverage global platforms - Identify businesses that have reached the saturation and use them to promote your product/service. 

8. Customise road to success - Your business is unique. Do not follow the steps of other businesses. Come up with a unique strategy to acquire more clients.

9. Involve your customers - Before it's too late, talk to your customers (including future ones) and also develop loyalty programs which result in an increase in sales. 

10.  Simply your offers - Make it easier for your clients to choose your service/product. Plenty of options will result in reduced sales as it can paralyse a buyer’s decision.

11. Licensing deals - License your product/service with a popular and similar business. This will help you attain higher market saturation.

12. Consider referrals - Do not take referrals for granted. Ask your customers some referrals. The prospect they recommend might be simply great and add sense to your business. 

13. Optimise your website to all platforms - Your clients might browse your website using mobile, tablet, etc. If your website isn’t responsive in all platforms, you lose customers. 

14. Distribute free samples - If you are a product based company, provide free samples to the individuals (especially to those who are likely to be your loyal customer).

15. Develop passive income stream - If you are dealing with thin margins and cannot afford any mistakes, then consider generating a passive income stream.

16. Diversify your offers - Provide complementary product/service in order to attract customers and expand your business.

17. Franchise your product/service - Although moving into franchise model is strenuous and a little expensive, it can make a difference in a short time span.

18. Acquire organic search - Optimise your website for organic search and obtain high traffic which can be converted into high-quality leads.

19. Embrace content marketing - Establish yourself in the industry through content marketing. Post unique, engaging and informative blogs, videos, etc. on your website.

20. Expand Internationally - If you have an exciting converting offer, International expansion is the best and quick way to grow.  

21. Forge a webinar - Webinar a great promotion method, offers an automated selling tool for any service/product.

22. Affiliate marketing - Affiliate programs works great for a sales channel when done with the right partner. 

23. Online expansion - Go online to sell your product/service. It would be effective if you partner with an existing online retailer. 

24. Attend trade shows - Participate in trade shows as well as the events often visited by your customers.

25. Expand your market reach - One way to extend the market reach is either by opening stores in new locations or through advertising. 

26. Cut-down your costs - Growing your business means flourishing the business bottom line. You can either liquidate your not so popular/poor product or enhance inventory turnover. 

27. Hire payroll manager - Outsource your payroll process and save infrastructure, time and money spent on it and compliance with tax regulations. 

28. Ask for feedback - Obtain feedback from your customers and share them with your prospects to build trust. Ensure to handle negative review with diplomacy.

29. Understand rewards & risks - Calculate the risks, know the downside of the industry and produce rewards.

30. Integrate seamlessly - If you sell a software product, integrate it with the business tycoons.

31. Tap into new delivery channels - Use search engine optimisation techniques to appear in the first Google search page. 

32. Merge with well-established business - Acquire or merge with business, double your business size and increase your sales thereby revenue. 

33. Provide loyalty discounts - Although offering discounts may cost you in the beginning, clients are likely to end up visiting you and spending even more, once you have it in the right place.

34. Utilise HARO - Help A Reporter Out can assist you obtain word of mouth about your business.  

35. Develop a team of ‘beta’ testers - Reach out to your loyal customers and invite them to be a part of an elite group and obtain first dibs on newly launched product/service.

36. Run A/B testing - A/B testing, also known as split testing lets you determine which strategy (CTA, web page titles, etc.) works best for you. The more A/B tests you apply to your website, the better the results. 

37. Simple yet functional website - You have only 3 seconds to impress your customers via your website. Keep your website functional and user-friendly.

38. Leverage social media - Promote your product/service in various social media platforms and acquire great opportunities for your business.

39. Use FOMO tactics - Develop anxiety (Fear Of Missing Out) by adding scarcity to your products. 

40. Segment your market - Create products/services that appeal specifically to the requirements of each segment.

41. Review sales channels - Review your current service/product offerings and find new ways to sell them. 

42. Build solid business processes - Define business process details at an appropriate level and take time to develop/enhance them.

43. Quality triumphs - Drop the idea of cutting the corners. Do not decrease the quality and try to stand up to your customer’s expectations.  

44. Resolve pain points - Prove that your product/service can solve their problems quickly and effectively.

45. New client acquisition - If you are a business-to-business company try offering business-to-consumer service or vice versa.

46. Create podcasts - Develop podcasts and offer knowledge to your customers.

47. Audit listings - Audit online listings and check if your business is listed in all vital places.

48. Invest in POS system - Process sales, accept multiple forms of payment, track data via POS and function at maximum efficiency. 

Grow, not too fast but prudently. Trying to grow too fast can kill your business as too much emphasis will be placed on growth and very less on customer relationship or quality of service/product.