Six steps to upscale and grow your business

I’ve never met a business owner who doesn’t want to grow their business. Even if your business is at a comfortable lifestyle stage there is always room for more money in the business bank account.

What practical steps can you take to lift your business game and fire up growth? Objectives and goals are all well and good, but finger in the wind targets like “grow business’ revenue by 20% year on year” or “increase your email database to 1 million subscribers” will not actually get you there.

The key to exponential business growth lies in understanding the difference between growth and scale. Growth is the process of increasing in size, whereas scale means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost. If you are ready to scale, you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets.

Growth helps you get BIGGER, scale helps you get BETTER.

Scale plus growth results in exponential returns. Thinking about these six key steps can help your business achieve both.

ONE: Get ready for growth

Be honest with yourself. Are you prepared to make tough decisions to scale your business? You have to invest time and money into identifying and developing new technologies, as well as upskill your staff and resources.

TWO: Identify what stage your business is at

The business lifecycle is split into six stages. Believe it or not, 70 percent of entrepreneurs flounder in the “wilderness” stage of the business lifecycle, failing to reach the end stage where their business becomes scaled and automated -- otherwise referred to as a “lifestyle” or “performance” business.

THREE: Find your tribe

Thanks to marketing guru Seth Godin every successful businesses now has a growing and dedicated tribe or “group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.” Large scale examples are Apple, Audi, Disney and Jack Daniels. Local businesses with solid and distinct tribes include surfboard maker Hayden Shapes and fashion brand Spell.

Godin believes tribes are out there waiting to happen and all that’s missing is a leader. Nobody is going to anoint you or your business in this role so design a clear and powerful message that your tribe can aspire to, and shout it from the rooftops.

Long story short: You must become famous to the audience in the niche you serve.

FOUR: Define and delight your customer

To find your tribe you need to identify and describe your perfect customer – where they live, what they do, and how they spend their weekends - be detailed and specific.

A key part of customer personas is working out their pain points and how your business can addresses them. What do your customers most want to buy? Everyone wants an innovative, convenient, low-cost product, however, one of those things is the most important thing to each of your customers. Is it innovation, relationships, convenience, or price? (Hint: It’s rarely price). 

Once you have a identified a tribe and what they want to buy, clarify the problems you are solving for them. Remember: people buy from people. Understand the customer journey leading up to the point of purchase, and make sure your customers understand your core offering.

Offer your customers a clear product solution – one that solves the major problems experienced during their customer journey. They did not wake up this morning looking to buy from you, something happened prior to this.

FIVE: Implement a value spectrum and ecosystem

While your customers are looking to solve similar problems via your products, not all of them want or can afford the same thing. Offer varying solutions at each end of the value spectrum for your customers to buy into. Consider two Mercedes Benz tribe members who share a passion for luxury car brands, with differing purchasing capacity. One buys an A180 and the other buys an S600 - both walk away happy and Mercedes collects the revenue from both customer types.

SIX: Shout and be seen

Once you’ve worked through all the above steps, you need a marketing strategy that leverages online marketing tactics including social media, search marketing, and email. Digital marketing is really no different to traditional marketing. Use a combination of both to develop mutually beneficial relationships with prospects, leads, and customers.

Digital Marketer offer free resources and introductory courses on digital marketing foundations and key strategies.

Stay on target

On the journey to business growth be prepared to refer 30% of new client enquiries to your competitors. Don’t compete, play a different game. A strong referral is more rewarding to a customer, than a bad customer service experience from a business who isn’t really qualified to do the job.

Because of our connected digital world we have the tendency to be influenced and distracted by other businesses. We see others becoming successful and try to replicate their model. This will only dilute your message and authenticity.

Start where you are with your business, be certain what you stand for and keep laser focus on the next step and stage.

Connect with Nine Advisory to learn more about accelerating scale and growth within your business.