50 Practical Things Any Small Business Can Do to Grow Turnover or Impact

Small businesses don’t fail because they lack ideas. They fail because they lack clarity, discipline, and momentum.
Over the years—working with entrepreneurs, hospitality operators, educators, creatives, and small business owners—we’ve noticed a pattern. Growth rarely comes from a single breakthrough. It comes from doing many small, sensible things consistently, even when no one is watching.

This framework is inspired by two books that have deeply influenced our thinking:
Good to Great by Jim Collins (discipline, focus, flywheels)
Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller (clarity, customer-first thinking)

What follows are 50 practical actions any small to medium-sized business can take to increase turnover, improve impact, and build something that lasts. No hype. No silver bullets. Just good work, done well.

Start With Clarity (Before You Touch Anything Else)

1. Get clear on what you are actually good at
   Not what you wish you were good at—what customers already value.
2. Define the real problem you solve for customers
   If you can’t explain it simply, your customers won’t remember you.
3. Make the customer the hero, not your business
   Your brand exists to serve their journey, not your ego.
4. Choose what you will not do
   Focus grows faster when you say no more often.
5. Set one meaningful goal for the next 12 months
   Growth needs a destination, not just activity.

Fix the Administrative Foundations

1. Create simple admin checklists
   Boring systems create freedom.
2. Automate repetitive admin tasks
   Invoicing, reminders, payroll—machines don’t get tired.
3. Organise documents once, properly
   Time lost searching is invisible but expensive.
4. Ensure compliance basics are sorted
   Tax, insurance, accreditations—ignore them at your peril.
5. Track how much time admin actually takes
   You can’t fix what you don’t see.

Build Repeatable Processes

1. Document your five most important processes
   Sales, delivery, billing, customer service, procurement.
2. Assign ownership to each process
   If everyone is responsible, no one is.
3. Simplify processes before improving them
   Complexity hides inefficiency.
4. Create short, usable SOPs
   One clear page beats a forgotten manual.
5. Review processes quarterly
   Small improvements compound quickly.

Take Procurement Seriously

1. Audit your top suppliers annually
   Loyalty should be mutual.
2. Negotiate prices and terms regularly
   Silence is expensive.
3. Reduce supplier complexity
   Fewer suppliers often mean better pricing and reliability.
4. Track procurement as a percentage of turnover
   Watch trends, not just totals.
5. Build real supplier relationships
   Good suppliers can save you in tough times.

Rethink Pricing and Profit

1. Understand your true margins
   Guessing is not a strategy.
2. Identify your most profitable customers or products
   Growth often comes from doing more of the right things—not everything.
3. Test price increases carefully
   Most businesses underprice out of fear.
4. Stop competing purely on price
   That race has no winners.
5. Create a premium option
   Some customers want the best, not the cheapest.

Measure What Actually Matters

1. Define 5–7 key numbers
   Cash flow, margin, conversion, retention—keep it simple.
2. Review them weekly
   Discipline beats motivation.
3. Separate activity from results
   Being busy is not the same as progressing.
4. Use numbers to learn, not to blame
   Data should inform decisions, not punish people.
5. Teach your team basic financial literacy
   Understanding the numbers changes behaviour.
6. Improve Merchandising and Inventory
7. Identify slow-moving stock
   Dead stock is frozen cash.
8. Improve how products are presented
   Clarity sells.
9. Track inventory turnover
   Speed matters.
10. Reduce the unnecessary product range
    Less choice often means better sales.
11. Design buying journeys intentionally
    Make it easy to say yes.
12. Invest in People (Properly)
13. Hire character first, skills second
    Skills can be taught. Values are harder.
14. Be clear about expectations
    Ambiguity kills performance.
15. Train everyone in basic customer experience
    Every interaction shapes the brand.
16. Connect work to visible goals
    People want to know their effort matters.
17. Recognise progress, not just results
    Momentum comes from encouragement.

Clarify Your Marketing Story

1. Simplify your message
   If you confuse, you lose.
2. Fix your website homepage first
   Within 5 seconds, visitors should know what you do and who it’s for.
3. Use clear calls to action
   Tell people what to do next.
4. Optimise your Google presence
   Reviews and accuracy matter more than most ads.
5. Create helpful content
   Answer real customer questions, consistently.

Use Social Media With Intention

1. Focus on one platform
   Depth beats scatter.
2. Tell real stories
   Customers, lessons, mistakes, progress.
3. Show how things are made or delivered
   Process builds trust.
4. Use plain language and simple visuals
   Clarity always wins.
5. Measure engagement, not vanity metrics
   Attention is more valuable than followers.

Final Thought

Great businesses are not built by dramatic moments.

They are built by quiet discipline, clear thinking, and steady action.

If you take even 10 of these 50 steps seriously, your business will feel different within months. If you commit to all of them over time, you won’t just grow turnover—you’ll build something meaningful.

And that, in our view, is the real goal. All the best for 2026!