11 Little Secrets Successful Business Owners Will Never Tell You

"Be nice. It goes a long, long way."

1. Strike while the iron is hot.

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"Don’t wait; just follow up. This is for everything — sales leads, admin, responding to emails — just get it done. This will not only keep you in the mind of potential clients but will also help to stop tasks piling up."

—Will Bowley, Staverton Consulting

2. Shopping around can save you some serious £££.

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"Although I have main suppliers for everything I buy for the business, instead of just automatically returning to them to reorder, I always check that they still offer the best price on the product. I would say that, by doing this over the last year, I have probably saved in excess of £10,000."

—Matt Davis, Cookies & Cones

3. Strong brand mission = loyal customers.

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"We wanted our makeup products to be animal cruelty-free, vegan, mineral, healthy, and good for the skin while also staying affordable. That mission helped us grow with customers who also believed in the same morals as ours. We've never compromised on the quality of our products, starting with the ingredients to the methods and even the packaging. This continued mission has led to a more loyal customer base who all want the same things for our world."

—Noshin Begum, QueenYou

4. Start your day off the right way.

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"Focus on your goal by listening to motivational clips and speeches when waking up in the morning. This makes you pumped up for the day."

—Ben Brabers, Brabers Consultancy

5. Make time for your customers.

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"We converse with our customers not as customers, but as humans.

"We try to treat them as individuals and talk with them as such. We talk about their weekend, their day, their upcoming trips. When they return, we use the previous conversation, and with that we’ve actually grown great relationships and even friendships with them. Sometimes people need a break from their day or a mundane transaction, and it’s nice to be that!"

—Gemma and Will, Wilma's Bakery

6. Breatheeeeee.

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"Count to 10! I’ve had to learn the hard way not to react to emotion when it is so easy to do. When I take the time to count to 10, I’ve found a much clearer path open up and it often helps me to make the right decision."

—Sam Harding, Pinnacle

7. Collaboration is king.

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"Something I’ve always tried to bring into my work is collaboration. This is now one of the main values of my company, LOS Social. When I was starting out, I met with many small businesses who needed help with their marketing strategy. I have managed to successfully connect a few of these companies, and in different ways, they have seen benefits. One in particular offered an eco-product and I recommended approaching a local shop whose focus is sustainability. The shop now stocks the product, and their business is growing at a much quicker rate due to an uplift in awareness and a bigger customer base. I offered these suggestions free of charge, but they have outlined a need for networking and business collaborations in the area which may just influence one of my services going forward!"

—Emma Smith, LOS Social

8. Take chances sometimes.

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"Before our launch, we took a big one by contacting a big-name photography brand to see if they would sponsor it. We weren’t very hopeful because at this point, our website was not even up and running, we had just decided on the store name/logo, and, frankly, no one had heard of us. Luckily, during our conversation with them, they could see how passionate we were about film photography and they gave us a load of free film to give away to our new customers."

—Raste Fatah, Film Bros

9. Give back to your employees.

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"We have lunch together as a team every single day. This is the basis of our company’s open culture and allows everyone to communicate easily with each other. It’s where all the best ideas come from."

—Eccie Newton, Karma Cans

10. Learn how to talk the talk by talking.

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"Don't be afraid to talk about your business. 1) You never know who is listening — someone you never expected to may be able to provide a nugget of information that gets you over the line. 2) Talking about it more and more solidifies the story to yourself. It's like pitching yourself over and over again — you get your pitch to be perfect and you understand your direction more, the more you talk about it."

—Courtney Scott, PITT BALM

11. Find ways to make your finances work for you.

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"We got an American Express Platinum Business card this year. It’s nice to be rewarded with points for what is essentially just spending as usual. Everything that we can pay for with AMEX, we generally do.

"The Platinum card came with a generous points bonus if we spent £6K within the first 3 months. Perfect for the new camera upgrade we were planning. Entirely paid for by points, I treated myself and partner to a nice hotel stay in Antwerp for a rarely taken (rarely needed) holiday.

"We’ve also done a lot of filming abroad this year with a client, so having the included lounge pass to use at every airport has been a real luxury and brought a consistent smile and sigh of relief from our client. It’s one of those things you never really think you’d appreciate until you’re the one with a whole sofa to yourself, nipple deep in complimentary pastries and Prosecco. Is this the reason our client keeps working with us? Maybe not, but it helps."

—Tom Staniford, Gusto Film

Whatever your business, an American Express® Business Card can reward you as you grow your business.