How Can You Grow Your Business?

Let me start by stating the obvious: If you are a business owner, you want your business to grow; and you want it to grow in a manner that is attainable and sustainable.

Every expert out there (including me) has an opinion on what the best strategy for growth is or should be. However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that can work for all businesses to ensure consistency in growth.

In this article, I present a generalized (and perhaps over-simplified) approach to identifying, measuring, and implementing a growth strategy that can benefit businesses of all sizes.

The structure of a business plays a crucial role in determining the most sustainable approach to its growth. Moreover, growth does not always entail expanding the business physically but can occur by enhancing its functionality and adaptability.

A key aspect of sustainable growth is the identification of the appropriate metrics or measurements, which depend heavily on the stage of the business. Growth metrics for start-ups and early-stage businesses are likely to be different from those for more mature businesses. Revisiting the baselines to measure growth meaningfully, therefore, is a key differentiator between sustainable and unsustainable growth.

Three Ways to Grow: Efficiency, Costs, Revenues

Improving Efficiency:

A business' goal should be to enable its employees to maximize their productivity and potential. Tools are meant to help individuals become more efficient. Thus, if a tool does not contribute to the productivity of employees, it should be eliminated. If a tool can contribute to the productivity of employees, it should be seriously considered as a worthwhile investment.

The fear often is that if a tool is very efficient, it can replace or displace workers. But that is not necessarily true. When workers can automate certain tasks or perform them at a faster rate, the company can upskill these same workers to accomplish more complex tasks. This can have a positive impact on employee satisfaction by empowering them to grow alongside the company.

Businesses that dismiss workers on a large scale under the guise of "bringing in automated tools" are often short-sighted. They are losing valuable human capital in the form of people who understand the business, have a personal stake in growing with the business and a desire to upskill themselves.

Minimizing Costs:

When a business pays closer attention to its organizational structure, the inter dependencies within departments, technology, and human capital in the context of costs and benefits, often overlooked items tend to pop up. These things include but are not limited to outdated subscriptions, software or hardware solutions that do not align with current needs and marketing or operations expenditures with low returns on investment.

Looking carefully at the data on expenditures and received benefits in terms of promoting the key objectives of the business can help find efficient solutions to resolving cost burdens on the business.

Maximizing Revenues:

The easiest way to increase revenues is to either increase the number of customers buying a product/service or to scale into a higher-priced product/service. Revenues at their core are a simple product of Price*Quantity Sold. But revenue growth is not always simple to pursue because it consists of diverse options and strategies within itself.

1. One option is to focus on optimizing prices based on the willingness of consumers to buy the product/service. This requires adapting the product/service to market needs, consumer behavioral changes, preference changes, and the complementary or competitive products/services available in the market.
2. A second option is to pursue strategies to expand the consumer base itself by either increasing the markets where product/service is currently available or by creating a niche product and selling to more targeted groups of consumers.

One or both options can be considered to fuel revenue growth depending upon the current market share and type of product/service offered by the business. Of note is the fact that companies that show steady and sustainable growth in their market shares and revenues are always updating their products/services and segmenting their markets more strategically to position themselves as the market leaders.

How Can You Attain This Type of Growth?

A clearly outlined growth strategy and identification of how to implement it can help in achieving sustainable growth in business. A multi-pronged introspective approach that integrates efficiency improvement, cost minimization, and revenue maximization strategies to drive the business forward is essential.

Growth Strategy

• Any primary decision-maker in the business (owner, President, CEO) typically sets and revisits the vision of the company. It is crucial for this individual to ensure that the vision of the company is relevant and comprehensive by updating it as required. This sets the tone for the entire sustainable growth strategy of the business.
• Identifying at least three measurable objectives for growth based on the vision allows the decision-maker to take a closer look at the company structure.
• Thereafter, key individuals within the company, such as members of the C-suite, can be included in setting a strategy, analyzing current data and trends, and pursuing growth objectives steadily.
• An advantage of bringing in teams from various departments together in growth strategy sessions is that new synergies within teams can be created with a more singular outlook.
• The decision makers can then determine which elements of growth (efficiency, cost-cutting, revenue-optimization) align with the specific business objectives. This empowers them to plan on how to implement these strategies over specific and measurable periods of time.

Methods of Implementation

A business leader can guide their business through self-implementation of the growth strategies with support from their team members. However, there is a cost associated with Executives trying to implement growth strategies while still performing their regular functions within the company. A growth strategy should not come at the cost of structural inefficiencies otherwise the purpose of a growth strategy might get lost.

Thus, a smarter (and yes; more efficient and cost-effective) method of pursuing sustainable growth is to hire some combination of the following types of experts who can help either at various stages of implementation or provide an overall guidance on the process from building a strategy to successfully implementing it in the business:

1. Growth Advisor or Business Coach: Takes the overall view of the company and works closely with primary and secondary decision makers to methodically direct the process.
2. Data or Strategy Consultants: Look at the company's data objectively and shares insights about the flows and ebbs of pertinent information within the company, while driving a deeper dive into strategic imperatives.
3. Fractional Executives: A wide range of experts offer their services as Fractional Officers in departments such as Operations, Marketing, Finance, Data Analytics, Human Resources, etc. Fractional Officers are highly agile in terms of guiding their departments to attain results and to achieve efficiencies without sacrificing their objectivity.

Conclusion

Sustainable growth in business depends on optimizing costs, revenues, and resource efficiencies strategically. By setting clear objectives, involving the team, and leveraging expert guidance, businesses can pursue the implementation of a growth strategy that allows them to remain relevant and competitive in the market.

Ariana Smetana and I were discussing a variety of growth strategies that involve using digital transformation, data analysis, and usage of AI tools. So, I am giving Ariana Smetana shared credit for this article but all errors and omissions are entirely my own!

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