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By Henry Brown

The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates that there are 31.7 million small businesses in America, accounting for about 99.9% of all U.S companies. Every entrepreneur who starts their small business has a fair idea of where they want their enterprise to be in the future.

However, wishing to enjoy business success is not enough. You need a long-term roadmap with tangible business milestones to break down your long-term goals into smaller objectives that you can easily achieve. Here are some important small business milestones to aim for in the first five years.

1) First repeat client

Many business experts agree that a good company knows how to attract new clients, but a great one knows how to keep them. An estimated 65% of your company’s business will come from existing customers. Therefore, an important milestone to check off in the opening five years is selling to your first repeat customer.

Your first repeat client will give you more confidence in your business idea and provide the right motivation to keep going. You can get repeat patrons through personal recommendations, good client relations, and rewarding customer loyalty.

Your first repeat client is the stepping stone to the second, third, fourth, and subsequent loyal customers. The more repeat business your company enjoys, the more revenue you will gain. Consequently, consider returning to the drawing board to rethink your product-market or problem-solution fits if getting repeat business is challenging.

2) A scalable marketing strategy

There is no denying that you need a marketing strategy when starting and running a business. As such, these strategies are crucial in all business plans, so keep this in mind when thinking about your business plan writing services cost. A marketing strategy specifies your company’s overall approach to reaching new clients.

Your early sales will likely come from familiar faces when you start a business. These individuals will patronize your brand or recommend it to others if you tell them about it. However, this marketing strategy soon reaches its limits because marketing through personal connections is an unscalable approach.

Therefore, you should aim for a strategy you can rely on to produce the same or similar results repeatedly. For instance, you have a scalable strategy if you can receive $2,000 in revenue each time you invest $500 into paid ad campaigns.

3) Building a solid team

Every startup begins as a one-person operation or a small team affair. However, you will need more support as you progress, so hiring and training a solid team is a top priority in your first five years. Your team can make or break your business, so take your recruitment seriously to set your company up for long-term success.

It is advisable to create a solid employee training program before hiring your first worker. Also, remember that good HR is essential to unite the team’s effort. Finally, consider your employees’ opinions when making strategic changes and vital business decisions to make them feel valued.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.