5 ways to grow your business!

Entrepreneurs share powerful advice for increasing revenue and growing a business

You need a good, moneymaking idea to start a business. But that's not all it takes. Here are tips from successful small business owners.

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Build good relationships

In 2002, Deborah Gregg Suchman started making all-natural dog treats in the back of a boutique-style pet supply store next door to a dog park in downtown Boston. Since then, PolkaDogBakery has added three more retail locations, built a nationwide wholesale business and added an online store. Year-over-year growth is in the 50 percent range.

"Building good relationships has been integral to how our business has grown," Suchman says. "It started back at our first store, building relationships with our customers and within the community. That applies across the board, to employees, vendors and customers. You need a real understanding of who they are and what they are looking for."

Partner with suppliers

Since 1958 National Textile Industries has supplied broadcloth and trimmings from its first location on the lower east side of New York City to its current operation in Brooklyn "to anyone in the needle trade," as co-owner Jay Gagliano puts it. "I'm the third generation to run the business, and everyone in the family is involved."

Gagliano's No. 1 piece of advice: "Show your suppliers that you are committed to them and you value them as your partner. I quite often thank my suppliers, one of whom is UPS. That relationship goes back as far as I can remember, starting in 1958."

Know when to use custom packaging

Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne opened Georgetown Cupcake in 2008. Their business has grown quickly; the sisters were even featured in the TLC series DC Cupcakes. Besides Washington, D.C., they have stores in a handful of cities, as well as a nationwide bakery and shipping center in Sterling, Va.

"When we started shipping nationally, we wanted to re-create the Georgetown Cupcake store experience," Berman says. The retailer worked with UPS to refine its packaging to reduce the weight of each shipment by a pound while maintaining the distinct look and quality of the Georgetown Cupcake experience.

Stay resilient

"The most important thing for a young, startup company is to be resilient," says Rocco Carzo, operations manager at Boston-based Blank Label. "You're always having new problems to solve, and asking people to do things they've never done before."

Blank Label launched five years ago with a fresh concept: offering custom-made dress and casual shirts tailored for a perfect fit. Since then the company has opened a store in Boston where customers can be fitted in person for suits, topcoats, chinos and corduroys. Another location is planned for Washington, D.C.

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I wish you all the best!

Paul 

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