Sooner or later, every business reaches a point where they should start to grow beyond their initial operations. Growth potential is a sign of a good business. Being able to grow also means your business can become more effective and thus, more profitable.
However, just because your business can grow, it doesn’t mean that it should do so straight away. Growing a business is not as easy as you may think and even a simple mistake can ruin everything you’ve build so far.
That’s why it’s of the utmost importance to plan your business growth strategy well before you actually commit to it. Simply put, don’t consider growth unless you can ensure it can be seamless and effective. What’s more, don’t even try it unless you’re 100% certain that you can do it. That being said, here are a few tips on how to develop a business growth strategy.
Consider the growth opportunities
Not every business grows the same way and not every opportunity is ideal for everyone. Deciding on how to grow is one of the most important factors in business growth itself.
As a business owner, it’s up to you to determine the best course of action for your business. You must explore and research every growth opportunity before you decide how to proceed. That said, here are a few growth opportunities you should consider.
- Global Trade – Expanding internationally is one of the best ways to grow your business. Instead of focusing solely on your local market, you grow by tackling the global trade. This strategy involves numerous new challenges and obstacles to be overcome but it can also become very profitable.
- Market Penetration – This strategy focuses on getting a larger market share for your products or services. In other words, by improving your current efforts, such as marketing, sales, etc. you attempt to sell more to your current customers.
- Niche Markets – This strategy is ideally suited for businesses that have difficulties competing against better-funded or more-developed competitors. Instead of taking them on where they’re the strongest, you opt to serve a niche market where your competitors lack the presence. By adjusting your products or services to serve a niche market’s needs, you expand your consumer base with customers who haven’t had an alternative up until now.
Consider your finances
Business growth requires capital. You must be able to financially support your business while it acclimatizes to a new environment. For instance, expanding to a global trade requires a lot of funding. It takes a business 10 years on average to acquire a +1% ROA (Return on Assets) when expanding to a global market.
That being said, make sure you have alternative income sources to support your business growth. For instance, here are a few ways you can improve your cash flow and ensure more funds for your company’s growth.
- Cut overhead costs – Try to reduce your overhead expenses as much as you can. As an example, expenses, such as rent, bills, taxes, travel expenses, advertising, legal and accounting fees etc. are all overhead costs
- Invest excess capital – Since your business is ready to grow, chances are that you have enough income to create excess capital. You can try to invest that capital and maximize your profits. For example, you can invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. If you’re in a hurry, you can also try investing in foreign currency exchange via online platforms such as Ever Forex. The main reason is that currency exchange is more suited for short-term investment strategies.
- Cut operational costs – Operational costs consist of marketing, labor, manufacturing, and so on. You can try to reduce these costs as well but only if you manage it without sacrificing product or service quality.
Create an ideal plan
When you decide that you want to go from A to B, you must also determine how to get there efficiently. Developing a growth strategy for your business depends on planning out and calculating every step you must take.
This, of course, depends on the growth opportunity you’ve decided to explore, to begin with. As an example, you may have to do more extensive research on your target audience, design and develop new products, step up your marketing game, re-evaluate your consumer engagement strategies, work on improving customer service and support, as well as overall customer experience, and so on.
What’s more, a growth strategy shouldn’t be developed in a vacuum. The market is way too dynamic and it changes too often for you to sit and ponder on what to do. In other words, you’ll have to start from somewhere and make adjustments as you go in accordance with how the market shifts during the course of your business growth.
Growing a business is no small task. The entire process is way more complicated than business owners tend to realize, at first, which is why they oftentimes make a crucial mistake. That’s why it’s essential to research your options beforehand and develop a strategy that will allow you to grow your business seamlessly.
