Ready to start growing your business? It’s an exciting time, but before you start making big decisions, it pays to create a growth strategy.
The process of writing a growth strategy forces you to consider where you’re starting from, what you want to achieve, and how you’ll get there, along with the timings.
Not sure where to start, or what you need to include? We’ve got that covered.
Start with a vision and purpose
If you haven’t set a vision and purpose for your business, you’re going to struggle to put together an effective growth strategy. You need to define what you’re setting out to do and ultimately how you’ll change the world. Set your purpose now and it will make it easier for you to grow.
A clear vision will give your business direction and it’ll help you stay focused throughout your journey. Most importantly, it’ll provide everyone in your business with an idea of what they’re working towards so they can get on board too. In the long run, it also makes it easier for you to set and track goals at all levels of the company.
Know your target market
When you understand your ideal customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviours, you can develop a growth strategy based on these things. You need to understand customer behaviour so you can be confident that there’s enough of a need for what you’re offering. From there you can work out if it’s the right time to invest resources into growing your business.
Before you put together your growth strategy, you could conduct up-to-date market research and gather more recent data to inform customer personas/profiles that represent your current target audience.
Focus on differentiation
If you haven’t already, identify what sets your business apart from your competitors. Make a list, and plan to communicate those unique value propositions to your target market at every opportunity.
Whether it’s a superior product or service, a more convenient user experience, or incredible customer service. Differentiation is key if you’re to attract and retain customers – an essential requirement if your growth strategy is going to succeed!
Set a marketing budget
Depending on what you do, faster growth may require increased marketing. In this case, it’s a good idea to set a budget to develop a new marketing plan. Include a mix of digital and traditional tactics to reach your target market, so you can further drive interest and ultimately sales.
If you’ve got your business to a certain point with your current brand, you might also decide on a brand refresh to further establish your business’s reputation and build trust with potential customers. Marketing efforts don’t need to break the bank so definitely explore your options.
Prioritise customer retention
In most cases it’s much easier and more cost-effective to retain your existing customers than to acquire new ones. So make sure you review your customer retention tactics. Of course, top-notch customer service will keep your customers/clients coming back for more but you could look into things like loyalty programs, refer a friend schemes, and more personalised communication.
Embrace technology
We always promote embracing technology, but how can we not? It’s a game changer when you’re looking at effective ways to grow your business. Automate processes, adopt new tools and platforms, and implement data analytics to improve decision-making and increase productivity. If you need any help with automation and what technology to consider, we’re more than happy to give recommendations.
Develop partnerships and collaborations
Collaborate with other businesses, it’s a powerful way to expand your reach and tap into new markets. Identify potential partners and explore mutually beneficial collaborations that’ll help you both to grow.
Monitor and adjust
Continuously monitor your business’s performance and adjust your growth strategy accordingly. It may not always go as you’d hoped, so you might need to step back, regroup and make changes.
Ensure that your strategy remains relevant and effective by regularly reviewing key metrics, conducting market research, and gathering feedback from customers.
Need help with your growth strategy?
We support businesses to look at the numbers behind your strategy, and turn them into tangible actions that’ll help you grow. Get in touch, whether you’re needing to revisit your strategy or put an initial plan together.
