Everyone always loves playing the “what-if” game. What if I hit the million dollar jackpot lottery? What if I was a professional athlete? What would I do if I had superpowers?

While these are all fun yet unrealistic things to think about, there is also the “what-ifs” that could look feasible. What if my boss gave me a raise? What if all of our clients decided they wanted double our products? What if someone stopped eating my lunch out of the fridge every day?

Some of those what ifs and dreams can turn to reality with hard work, dedication and focus. No doubt in your business or work, you have often thought about growing your business without spending a fortune. They often say you have to spend money to make money and that’s largely true, but you don’t have to empty the bank account to take your business to the next level.

Change out Advertising for Social Media

Currently, there about around three billion social media accounts in the world. That means that just about any moment, hundreds of millions of people are scrolling through their feeds right now. With about two-thirds of adults reporting they are Facebook users, it’s a place to instantly access and interact with loads of potential clients.

Social media is free marketing (although there are paid options) that allow you to put your products in front of people within minutes. You can let them know about sales, promotions, updates and everything in between. It’s also a great avenue to interact with customers.

Even if you don’t have a product that is social media marketable, like a construction company, it’s still a way to interact with consumers. It’s all about getting your name out there and making a connection. Your Facebook page is a way for people to easily find you, your hours and services. People like when things are easy.

Ditch the Office, Have a look at Telecommuting

Telecommuting, quickly becoming a more viable option with employers, is letting your employees work from wherever. That could be from the comfort of their own home, an office-sharing place or the local cafe.

Not only will you save on overhead on office space, but employees also reported having a higher level of satisfaction, per a recent Flexjobs survey.

Embracing telecommuting requires a certain level of trust between you and your employees, but showing trust in your employees means their overall satisfaction level will be higher after letting them work at their own pace. Happier employees equals harder working employees which in turn equals better business.

Be Internet Smart, Practice Solid SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is one of the many trendy tech acronyms that are ever-present around the internet. What does it mean exactly?

Search engine optimization is the process of driving more organic searches to your business. Let’s say you’re selling gopher costumes. People will head to their preferred search engine and type in “gopher costumes”. Thousands of results will greet them and chances are, they aren’t going to look past the first few to find their choice.

Just like any fitness regimen, you’ll need to stay consistent and work hard to see results. There are way too many tips to list here, but doing some research on your own is a great and easy way to boost your site’s visibility, earning your more clicks and more business.

Start Branching Out and Outsourcing

While every business needs an accountant and HR rep, do you need to have one there full-time? Making a successful ad campaign means you’ll have to have a great marketing team, but should they always be just down the hall?

Branching out is a solid way to enhance your current customer base plus create a new one.
One successful way to accomplish this is to thoroughly explore profitable niche markets.
This way, you can become, through in-depth research, analysis and understanding, a go-to source for whatever your niche market is.

Outsourcing is a great way to cut down costs without having to sacrifice quality. It might be nice to know you have your “own team” doing X project, but a great way to keep your business afloat is by outsourcing a lot of your non-essential work projects.

It will also help because you’ll get a wide range of experiences and personalities. Everyone at your work may be thinking the same way and headed in one direction, but an outside consultant can come in and offer a fresh pair of eyes and new view.

Outsourcing doesn’t just apply to people. Any equipment that you don’t use frequently or cant truely afford can be rented. If you have one big project that requires a lot of vehicles, renting can be the way to go if you won’t need as many after the project is completed.