Once you have your business functioning sustainably with consistent profits, it’s time to decide:
- Are you happy with your current balance and size?
- Do you want to pull back, let your team run the business, and turn your attention to other projects or parts of life?
- Do you want to dig deep and grow your business?
Business growth comes from hard work and careful strategies. We’ve separated growth into two styles – organic and external. Both have benefits and risks. Both require market research and preparation. How will you choose to grow your business?
Grow your business organically
Organic business growth relies on your own resources. This slower, steadier means of growth carries lower risk but still requires strategic planning and action. Organic growth options include:
- Improving systems and processes to save time or increase capacity.
- Upskilling team members to work with new systems or skills your business requires.
- Marketing – proactively seeking reviews, increasing social media presence, collaborating, applying for awards, or advertising using profits from existing sales.
- Reallocating internal funds to the production of best-performing products or services.
- Production diversification to include new product offerings and meet market demand.
- Customer service improvements or acting on customer feedback.
- Rebranding a part of your business to appeal to a different audience.
- Building trade relationships to put your product into related physical stores or bringing other brands into your store.
Organic growth is a constant process that can be used alone or alongside external growth strategies.
CASE STUDY – LOCAL EXPANSION
Hypothetical local restaurant Lime and Co. has been operating for three years and has established a solid following. In that time, they have grown organically by improving systems, marketing on social media groups, and gaining a reputation for their excellent customer service. Upon careful reflection and discussions with her customers, the owner realises the strength is in her seasonal menu and unique table ordering system. She decides to capitalise on these strengths by franchising the restaurant. This external growth strategy allows her to replicate her concept in surrounding suburbs increasing brand recognition and profit.
Grow your business externally
External (or inorganic) growth means growing beyond your business’s immediate resources (or having large amounts of cash to reinvest) and involving external entities. This method of growth carries more risk but offers more immediate and significant market share or profit growth. External growth options include:
- Acquiring competitor’s brands to increase market share immediately.
- Partnering in joint ventures – pooling resources to accomplish a project together (rather than partnering into a combined business).
- Licensing your brand (receiving royalty in return for the use of your brand name)
- Franchising your business (retaining control and consistency in exchange for continued support and investment).
- Business loans to scale quickly into new premises in new geographic areas, expand teams, or increase production.
CASE STUDY – GLOBAL EXPANSION
Every business starts somewhere. Now almost universally recognised for its coffee, global company Starbucks began as a single store in Seattle. Through careful planning, starting with one store at a time, Starbucks grew through a combination of joint ventures, licencing agreements and wholly-owned subsidiaries. Now you can buy Starbucks in the supermarket for your pod machine and in stores around the world adapted to meet local preferences.
Prepare your business to grow
Whatever growth strategy you choose, do your background market research and prepare your business first.
- Team skills and leadership. All growth strategies require the right people ready and willing to grow with you. Invest in your existing team, ensure new hires align with business values, and empower your team with a culture of innovation, collaboration, and adaptability. This prepares them to meet the challenges of growth.
- Technological automation and innovation. Embrace new opportunities that might increase productivity or improve efficiency (without compromising your values).
- Market research. Market research should inform both your choice of growth strategy and how you implement it. Grow because your market wants you to, not because you decide to.
Are you ready to grow your business? Sage Business Coach Raffy Sgori can help. Book a free discovery call now.