Tips for creating a phenomenal growth strategy

What's the first thing you think of when you hear the term 'business growth'?

Higher turnover? More clients? Bigger team?

If your business idea is the seed, then your operations are the branches -  and we all know it takes a lot more than a few mood boards and visualisations to get those blossoming results you dreamed of on day 1.

Making growth happen is so much more than following a business or marketing plan. It's about the habits and actions we take to make sure we can hit the goals we set.

But just like a plant, we have to nurture and care for our businesses to grow anything.

It’s about finding efficient habits, processes and values to live by. Over time, all of your decisions and actions fit together like little pieces of a puzzle.

But of course, every business is different, and growth means something different to all of us.

Types of growth

How will you measure growth? Pinpointing this will help you better identify growth when it happens.

Growth isn't always as black and white as watching the digits of revenue increase.

Growth could also be:

• Increasing employees
• Launching online stores
• Opening new branches or sites
• Offering additional services
• Diversifying your product range
• Building your network
• Increasing your warehouse or retail space
• Expanding client base
• Marketing growth

Which aspect of your business means the most to you?

It's kind of like the world of plants. You could grow the same species of plant in a small pot of soil or in a grow bag. The same species will grow - but the conditions for growth were different.

Cheesy plant analogies aside, what are the fundamental ways a business grows?

Internal growth

Growing via internal means is all about using your business' own internal resources, purposefully. Internal growth is organic, and it relies on your own infrastructure, processes and workforce.

For example, you might focus on optimising a product that does really well, in order to prompt growth.

Internal business growth relies on the resources and capabilities you've already got, whereas external business growth involves seeking opportunities beyond the company's own resources.

External growth

Bringing in external factors to grow a business can be a fast and effective way. It's synergetic and mutually beneficial, and it certainly chips into new markets that you couldn't have explored otherwise.

Through acquisitions, mergers, building partnerships and gaining alliances, you can expand your business.

How do you create a strategy?

Creating a killer growth strategy takes a few different building blocks.

• Reflect, regularly
• Set goals
• Tactics
• Identify your highest value customers
• Look at the competition
• Think tactically
• Build a timeline
• Monitoring and adjusting
• Keep a growth mindset

Reflect, regularly

Take a step back and take a birds eye view of your business. Make it habitual to assess your current situation. Look at how well your business is performing. By looking at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, you can pinpoint areas that still have plenty of room for growth.

Setting goals

Define your SMART goals. What is your idea of growth? Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for each area of business growth (this could be financial, operational, customer-centric, etc.).

Identify your highest value customers

At the heart of any successful growth strategy lies a deep understanding of your buyer personas. Identify who you are going to be selling to the most when it comes to your target audience.

Get to know your highest value buyer personas like the back of your hand, and know the best way you can market to them.

Look at the competition

Being conscious of your competition is useful. Comparing your business to your competitors can help give you ideas, and tell you more about market trends.

Think, tactically

Break down your goals into actionable tactics and initiatives. Assign responsibilities, play up to your team strengths, allocate resources, and set timelines for implementation.

Build a timeline

It's all about using our time, wisely. Building a timeline puts plans into action. Having it all out on a timeline not only organises goals, but it makes the outcome more realistic. It turns the dot on the horizon into more of a blob right in front of you.

Monitor and adjust

Regularly monitor progress. Reflect on what's going well (through things like feedback or performance data).

Growing pains are totally normal. Sometimes they're a sign you need to adjust strategies, or cut off something that's not serving you anymore.

Adopt the 'growth mindset'

Growing a business is mostly about 'little and often.' Taking baby steps in the right direction is one more building block to growing your business - but it takes patience and the right mindset.

Whatever method your company grows, sustainable growth is always rooted in having the right mindset.

Speaking of growth methods...

Did someone say growth?

We know a thing or two about growth, and it goes way beyond a garden trowel. Business growth is our forte, and our door is always open for a cuppa and a chat.

Helping businesses grow is at the epicentre of everything we do here at Method. It's our bread and butter, the very heart of our operation, our bedrock.

Have a nose around at our free online resources. From SMART goal setting, to buyer persona templates, to website checkers.

If you're interested in a chat, get in touch with us for some insider growth tips.