How Business Growth Strategy – A solid growth strategy is more than a marketing strategy, it is a vital cog in the machinery of your business. Without one, you are at the mercy of fickle customer base and market fluctuations. So how do you plan to grow? If you’re unsure of the steps needed to create an effective growth strategy, we’ve got you covered. Business Growth Business growth is the point a company reaches where it expands and needs more ways to make a profit. This can happen when a business increases revenue, produces more products or services, or expands its customer base. For most companies, growth is the main goal. With this in mind, business decisions are often made based on what will contribute to the continued growth and overall success of the business. There are several methods that can facilitate growth which we will describe further below. Types of Business Growth As a business owner, you have many avenues for growth. Business growth can be divided into the following categories: 1. Organic With organic growth, the company expands through its own operations using its own internal resources. This is in contrast to seeking external resources to facilitate development. An example of organic growth is making a product more efficient so you can produce more in a shorter period of time, which increases sales. One of the advantages of using organic growth is that it is based on self-sufficiency and avoids going into debt. In addition, the incremental revenue generated from organic growth can support more strategic growth patterns. We will explain it below. 2. Strategic Strategic growth involves initiatives that will help your business grow in the long run. An example of strategic growth is creating a new product or developing a go-to-market strategy to reach a new audience. Unlike organic growth, these initiatives often require large amounts of resources and funding. Companies often adopt an organic approach in the hope that their efforts will generate enough capital to invest in future strategic development initiatives. 3. Internal Internal Growth Strategy seeks to optimize internal business processes to increase revenue. Like organic growth, this strategy relies on companies using their own internal resources. Internal growth strategy is about using existing resources in the most useful way possible. An example of internal growth is cutting unnecessary costs and running a more efficient operation by automating some of your tasks instead of hiring more employees. Internal growth can be more challenging because it forces companies to focus on how to improve and make their processes more efficient rather than focusing on external factors such as entering new markets to facilitate growth. 4. Mergers, Partnerships, Acquisitions Although riskier than other forms of growth, mergers, partnerships and acquisitions can bring great rewards. Unity is strength, and a well-executed merger, partnership, or acquisition can help your business enter new markets, expand your customer base, or expand your product and service offerings. Business Growth Strategy Growth strategy allows companies to expand their business. Growth can be achieved through methods such as adding new locations, investing in customer acquisition, or expanding product lines. A company’s industry and target market influence the growth strategies it chooses. Create a strategy, consider the options available and incorporate some into your business plan. Depending on the type of business you are building, your growth strategy may include things like: Adding new locations Customer acquisition Investing in franchise opportunities Product line expansion Selling products online on multiple platforms Your specific industry and your target market will influence your decisions, but they are almost universal. The truth is that acquiring new customers will play a role. Not sure what that looks like for your business? Here are some practical tricks to achieve growth. How to successfully grow a business Use a growth strategy template. Choose your target growth area. Do market and industry studies. Set growth goals. Plan your action. Determine your growth tools and requirements. Execute your plan. 1. Use a growth strategy template [free tool]. Image Source Don’t start running without planning and documenting the steps for your growth strategy. We recommend downloading this free growth strategy template and working with the directions in the included sections to outline the process envisioned for your organization’s growth. 2. Choose your target growth area. It’s great that you want to grow your business, but what exactly do you want to grow? Your business growth plan should focus on specific areas of growth. Common approaches to strategic growth initiatives may include: increasing the number of employees expanding existing office, store and/or warehouse space adding new locations or branches to your business expanding into new regions, locations, cities or countries adding new products and/or expanding service purchase locations ( (i.e., new store sales or opening an online store) Increase in revenue and/or profit Increase in customer base and/or customer acquisition rate Customer Your growth plan may include more than one of the initiatives described above. , which means: The best growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For example, increasing your unit sales will increase revenue and possibly lead to additional locations and staff to support the increased sales. 3. Do market and industry studies. Once you’ve chosen what you want to grow, you need to justify why you want to grow in this area (and whether growth is possible). The best way to determine if the desired growth is necessary and feasible is to research the state of your industry. Examples might include conducting surveys and focus groups with existing and potential customers, or conducting existing industry research. The knowledge and facts you discover in this step will shape the project’s expectations and growth goals to better determine the schedule, budget, and end goal. This brings us to step four… 4. Set growth goals. Once you’ve decided what you’re growing and why you’re growing it, the next step is deciding how much you’ll grow. These goals should be based on your ultimate aspirations for where your organization should be, but they should also be achievable and realistic, which is why setting goals based on industry research is so valuable. Finally, follow the steps to measure your goals in terms of metrics and timelines. A goal of “Increase sales by 30% per quarter over the next three years” is much clearer than “Increase sales.” 5. Plan your action. Next, describe how you will achieve your growth goals with a detailed growth strategy. Again, we recommend writing a detailed growth strategy plan to get understanding and buy-in from your team. Download this template An action plan should list action items, timelines, responsible teams or individuals, and resources to achieve your growth goals. 6. Determine your growth tools and requirements. The last step before working on your plan is to determine the requirements your team will need during the process. These are specific resources that will help you reach your growth goals faster and more accurately. Examples may include: Funding: Organizations may require capital investment or internal budget allocations to complete this project. Tools and software: Consider what technology resources may be needed to accelerate the growth process and/or gain insights. Services: Growth can be best achieved with the help of consultants, designers or planners in specific fields. 7. Execute your plan. With all your planning, resources, and goal setting done, you’re now ready to execute your company’s growth plan and deliver business results. During this time, be sure to keep the lines of communication open and hold your stakeholders accountable by comparing initial results to your expected growth targets to see if projected results are still achievable or if any adjustments need to be made. Your growth plan and the tactics you leverage will ultimately be specific to your business, but there are some universal strategies you can implement when starting out. Free Growth Strategy Template from Featured Resources Complete this form to access your template To grow a business and its revenue, companies can implement various growth strategies. Examples of growth strategies include: Growth Strategy Examples Viral Loop Milestone Referrals Word of Mouth ‘When They ZigZag, We Fall Back’ Approach Personal Reach Market Penetration Market Development Product Development Growth Alliance Acquisition Organic Growth Social Media Excellent Customer Service 1. The Viral Loop Some Growth strategies are designed to be completely self-contained. They require an initial push, but ultimately rely (if not only) on the user’s enthusiasm to keep going. One strategy that fits that bill is the viral loop. The basic premise of the viral loop is simple: someone tries your product. They are given a valuable incentive to share it with others. They accept and share with their network. New users sign up, see the promotion for themselves and share with their network. do it again For example, a cloud storage company trying to get off the ground can offer users