Starting your own business can be a fantastic and very profitable way to earn. Many entrepreneurs will have entered the vast world of business to become one of the leaders in their industry, but realistically they will have to start off small. Once secure foundations have been established however, business leaders will be hungry to grow their business to a greater size. But this is a risky and expensive endeavour, so in this blog, we will explore how to grow your company.
Types of business growth
Growth comes in many different forms and doesn’t necessarily mean getting physically bigger. It is essential therefore that the first step in achieving growth for your business is for the leadership team to sit down and lay out what they hope to achieve. Growth could include:
increasing your customer base – and therefore sales
introducing new products/services or improving existing products/services
changing the format in which your products/services are sold, e.g. online
taking on and training more staff
attracting more investors to bring in additional sources of funding
The type of growth that your business chooses to adopt will vary from each business type and industry, but all will also require the need for change in the relationships your business has. This could be the introduction of a new relationship between your business and a strategic partner; a new product could alter the relationship with your customers; or new staff could alter the relationship with the existing team. It is essential that all of your leadership team are on the same page, so when this change begins to surface, you are all focused on the same long-term growth goal.
Introducing incentives for new customers
No matter your long-term growth goals, success will rely on how your business establishes its brand. As a small, local business, you will have a small customer base who will know what services you offer. If you intend to grow you will need to have a strong and clear idea of exactly what your brand is to ensure that you are consistent in all areas of your expansion. If you do not have a strong brand image, your growth will be fragmented and staggered.
Laying this out will include asking questions about the values and processes of your company, and why they are or are not important to you. Once your personality has been distinctly established, you have to consider how you will attract your expanded customer base. How will you reward new and existing customers? Will you offer exclusive promotions or discounts? How will you ensure that your business’ personality is conveyed? Introducing these incentives is a sure-fire way to ensure that you appeal to an expanded customer base and maintain the success of your growth.
The importance of planning for your growth
It is all well and good wanting to grow and investing the money to do so, but without a comprehensive growth strategy, you will have no sight of where you’ve been and how far you have to go. You should therefore create a strategy document to put all of your ideas down on paper. The strategy should focus on your business’s USP’s, and how you will utilise these in the growth of your company. Essentially, what are you good at and how will you improve? What are your overall targets which will determine whether your growth is successful? What is your current financial landscape, and will it require further investment? Will you employ the use of new technology to speed up your processes? Will you be offering a new product? Will you target new areas and audiences? How will you market to these new customers? Will this result in a change in business structure? These are just some of the questions that your growth strategy should begin to answer, to ensure that you have a step by step foundation for how your business will grow successfully.
A great place to start to understand the viability of growing your business is to readdress your business plan. If you would like help with putting together your business plan, get in touch today! Contact us online using the form on the right or call 01604 420 420.