While kick-starting a new business can be incredibly challenging, maintaining a continuously growing your once-established business is even more demanding. Forming a new company and increasing your stream of customers is an integral success factor. Still, it clearly does not happen in the snap of a finger. Along with adequate planning, it requires you to think out-of-the-box.
Companies facing a spiraling downfall in sales and profits need to devise a concrete growth strategy to up their business and outperform rivals. Without one, companies are bound to be at the pity of constant market fluctuations and indecisive consumers. Start strategizing, consider the options available to you, and devise a careful and compelling business plan.
Developing Strategies for Business Growth
Based on the company you are running, you will find several suitable strategies to grow your business. Some companies even create a unique amalgamation of various growth strategies to stand out from competitors. It is vital to check the current market conditions too.
For instance, when potential companies are undervalued due to unstable or demanding economic conditions, the most successful business growth strategy would be acquiring another business. Conversely, in other instances, it can cost less for companies to spread out their business than pay a large sum of money for a high-priced acquisition.
Whatever the decision is, companies need to discuss the probable growth strategies with their team and acquire extensive feedback to know what their views and contribution will be. Also, analyze how a particular strategy will impact your resources and finances and implement a strategy that will boost your revenues.
8 Effective Business Growth Strategies
Here is a short section on some of the most effective strategies to bring growth in business and boost sales and revenues.
1. Market Share
Your business should aim to target and grab hold of a larger segment of the existing market with the already prevailing products. Companies can acquire a larger market share by merely altering their prices to steal customers from their competitors or focus on enhancing their marketing and selling efforts. This also includes launching enticing deals or discounts so that customers can be attracted.
2. New Markets
The second strategy pertains to scanning the surroundings and looking for a new marketplace to promote your current product and services. This includes expanding your sales to an entirely another market in the vicinity or a whole new province, city, or country. A new market will present more opportunities and a new set of competitors over whom your business can even have an upper-hand.
3. Acquisition
Buying out another business is one of the most cost-effective means of boosting your market share, seizing new markets, or diversifying. This growth strategy provides an already established client-base and operations, which can be further adjusted for value-addition. The acquisition is a suitable strategy for businesses that wish to expand into new horizons, such as entering a new geographic area or moving out abroad where you have little knowledge or contacts.
4. Diversification
Diversification is a dangerous business growth strategy. It involves creating new product offerings or services to sell to your existing market or an entirely different customer base. The two forms of diversification are related or unrelated diversification. Hence, companies that opt for diversification as a growth strategy can either enter a corresponding business line or choose to go for a completely new one. The latter is the riskiest and the most problematic too.
5. Buy a Franchise
Another impressive business growth strategy that firms can resort to is acquiring a franchise. A franchise is a type of business development typically associated with hard-core marketing power, name acknowledgment, and immense support from the franchise owner. A franchise is a suitable option but requires a thorough investigation. Hence, company owners need to do their homework on all the costs involved, including supplies, advertising, royalty premiums, and start-up fees.
6. Franchise your own Business
If you cannot buy a franchise, the next option you have is to franchise your own company. This is a highly successful business growth strategy for firms with very reputable and profitable operations and can be easily duplicated by other companies.
- Repositioning and Efficiency
This strategy entails targeting the growth percentage in the company’s profit margins in two ways. The companies can either reposition their products or enhance the efficiency to reach the target. For instance, companies can examine all of their existing product offerings or services to monitor their profit margins and see if they are aligned with the adopted business strategy. The products that are non-strategic or underperforming can simply be released. On the other hand, you can revise your business operation processes to see any efficiency improvements.
8. Strategic Partnerships
A Strategic Partnership is yet another commonly implemented growth strategy for business. This strategy involves affiliating with other firms. Partnerships can range from something very straightforward, such as an informal agreement between two firms in complementing markets in which both companies can refer clients amongst each other, to something more complex as joint ventures in which 2 or more companies invest their finances and resources to follow a joint business project.
