Growing Your Business

The previous blogs were written to assist you to plan and manage your business. This blog looks at growing your business.
Growing any business is a big commitment.
Before you apply any strategies to grow your business you may wish to consider:

• why you want to grow
• whether your business is ready to grow, and
• the ways that your business can grow.

Should you choose to grow your business you need to plan for growth, setting targets for what type and how much growth you want and how you intend to achieve this.

Different businesses need differing levels of growth at different stages in their life. For example, a new business may have fairly high growth demands. In a stable business only minimal growth may be needed.
 
If your business is already experiencing growth, there are still key steps that you can take to plan ongoing future growth.

Long term sustainable growth requires comprehensive planning, good systems, focus and persistence.
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This blog considers:

• the drawbacks of unplanned growth
• what you need to consider before you implement plans to grow your business, and
• the different growth strategies

​Drawbacks of unplanned growth
After the initial start-up and growth phase of your business your attention may turn to expanding your business further. Why do you want to grow your business? Does this match with your business goals you included in your business plan?
 
All businesses need new customers, if only to replace customers who move on. However, not all growth is good, especially if it is unplanned, unexpected or haphazard growth. 

​Unplanned, unexpected or haphazard growth can impose severe strains and pressures on your business. It can result in:

• reduced servicing of existing customers
• outgrowing your premises in the short-term
• greater pressure on your office systems 
• increased strain on your cash flow
• overloading yourself, potentially producing poor quality services or products
• a drop in your moral and motivation
• compromising your management skills where you may start to work reactively rather than proactively on your business
• overloading your staff resulting in reduced performance
• a drop in staff morale and motivation
• staff resigning
• potential damage to your y business’s reputation and negatively affecting your referral strategies.

For business growth to be successful, it should be sustainable. Hence, it is important that you plan the growth of your business. 

​Before growing your business by taking on new customers, new services or products it is important to ensure that you can service your existing and new customers.
 
In planning your growth strategies you may want to consider the following questions:

• Do you have capacity to grow?
• Do you have the skills and the capacity to deliver the new services or products?

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• Will your office systems cope? It is important to have systems in place to ensure the growth process is as smooth as possible.
• Can you afford to grow? Have you considered the time lag between implementing your marketing strategies and receiving money from your growth strategies?
• Do you need to employ staff? What are the additional costs and legal implications associated with employing staff or increasing staff?
• What new services or products can you offer your existing customers? It is important to keep in touch with your existing customers. You might be working towards targeting a different customer group, but you cannot afford to isolate your existing customers in the short term.
• Is there a market for your new services or products and are they complementary to your existing services or products? Will this new service or product attract additional customers to your business? Are these your target customers?
• Over time (within five years) will the new services or products provide at least a 10% increase in income? 

​Growth Strategies
There are numerous strategies to grow your business. Here are just a few of them:

• increase your fees – you may already be doing this in line with any increases in your expenses.

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• obtain new customers – you may have already identified and successfully provided services to your target customer group outlined in your business plan. Growing your business may mean expanding your target audience.
• encourage referrals from your current customers – you may offer some incentive to your current customers if they refer your services or products to their friends and family.
• offer new services or products.
• ask you current customers what other services or products they would like to receive.
• expand the geographical area where you offer your services or products.

​You may choose one or several of these strategies. However a multi-directional approach can be difficult to manage.
 
Your growth plans and strategies are an important part of your business plan and need to be reviewed regularly.

Many government agencies including the ATO, www.buisness.gov.au and www.business.qld.gov.au provide further information to help you understand how to manage your business. 
 
It may also be useful to obtain professional advice as to whether you are a hobby or a business from a solicitor, an accountant or a business advisor.
 
Why not make a complementary consultation with me today to go through with you how to grow your business.
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The next blog looks at exiting your business. Every business owner will eventually exit their business. Some of the reasons for exiting a business may include:

• changes in life goals,
• retirement,
• passing the business on to family members, or
• cashing in on your success.