Now that you’ve launched your business startup successfully, are you ready to enable business growth? Have you narrowed down and inspired your target market? Is your business model refined and repeatable? Are you managing yourself and your business properly? If you can answer YES to all of these questions, you may be ready for business growth. Let’s take a look at what it really takes to grow your business!
Business growth is exciting
There are various options available for business growth, depending on your industry. When I started growing my piano teaching business, I had a refined business model that I knew was repeatable.
I provided the best piano teachers to my students. This allowed me to cater to a wealthier demographic. So I was expanding in one geographical area very well. The advertising strategy was effective and efficient.
It’s important to know that stats at all times. So I had all of my statistics calculated and ready to go – how many calls received – how many appointments (free lessons) could be scheduled from those calls. Finally, I knew how many students would sign up after the free lessons (about 75%).
Demographics
My target audience was a specific demographic – wealthy to super wealthy. So I was able to charge a good rate. Also, I was able to pay the premium for high-quality teachers. Senior VPs of large corporations, doctors, lawyers, and large business owners always expect the best for their kids or themselves, and I provided that.
Sales pitch
Since the first lesson was free, that was the sales pitch. My teachers would teach beginners how to read music and play notes without looking at the keys. They accomplished this in the first one-hour lesson.
That really impressed the students and their parents. I taught my teachers how to sell. I also taught them how to close the deal. They knew the importance of receiving a payment and a signed contract before leaving. And it worked like a well-oiled machine.
Business growth
So I hired more teachers and I expanded my advertising into new local areas. The statistics proved to be repeatable. Business growth was calculated and steady.
Scale
After my business growth successfully covered the entire city, I started scaling my business. I was able to repeat what I was doing in other cities. And it worked.
Watching your business sprout up in other regions is very rewarding. It’s like re-living your business startup experience all over again, but without experiencing some of the nightmares you dealt with the first time around.
Depending on your business and the industry you’re in, there are a few ways to enable the business growth of your business startup. Defining your business growth strategy is job one. It’ll allow you to make the best decisions when you execute your plan.
Ways to grow your business startup
What are some interesting ways you can enable business growth?
Diversification
This will protect your business when a specific product line slumps or fails. But diversify for business growth, first and foremost. Engage in new product development when you understand more of the needs within your target audience.
Caution: Ensure your new products or product lines relate to your core business.
According to Chris Zook, the author of Beyond the Core, and global strategy practice leader at Bain & Co, “When a company moves into a new line of business, it should closely relate to the firm’s core operations.”
Licensing
If you have functional patents on your products, consider pursuing a licensing deal with an established firm to enable your business growth. They may have a large distribution channel for your products. Work closely with the licensee to ensure their marketing strategy matches your business model.
Franchising
This is a great way to scale your business without having to manage many locations. Franchising is a proven way to experience business growth quickly. Keep in mind, there are difficulties, risks and drawbacks to franchising:
- Your role will change – you now sell and support franchises
- Franchises are products, so market research is required
- Being a legal entity, the legal side must be ironed out
- You must open multiple locations to prove you can scale
Content marketing
If you’re not creating content already, but your business startup is established, congratulations! You successfully launched a business startup without utilizing the best form of marketing! Content marketing. So add a blog and build your brand recognition.
Content marketing has been around for over a century. In 1891, August Oetker included free recipes with the packages of baking powder he sold. Years later, in 1911, He published a cookbook which contained these recipes. It was a huge success.
The Michelin Guide, which started in 1900, distributed the first edition for free. They delivered 35,000 copies without charging a penny. Also, a huge success!
These examples show how effective content marketing can be for business growth.
Government contracts – Utilize the SBA for this one
According to the SBA (Small Business Administration), “One of the best ways to grow your business is to win business from the government. Work with your local SBA and Small Business Development Center to help you determine the types of contracts available to you.”
Become a game-changer and challenge the status quo
The object here is to compete with the status quo instead of your competition. When you compete with them, you must convince your customers to pick you over your competitors. Unfortunately, many customers choose to not make the purchase at all. They may decide to just keep things how they are. It’s an expense, an inconvenience, and they have other priorities.
Present a new and exciting way to do business in your industry. Provide convenience or value in the market structure rather than with a special product. Your competitors will be blind-sided by changes in the status quo. Their infrastructure is based on current market structure. Make them trip!
Now weigh your options & create your business growth strategy
Each method for business growth has its advantages and disadvantages, so plan carefully. Set up a business growth strategy that’ll get you there based on research. Uncover the history of successful businesses in your industry and identify the growth path they followed.
Also, identify areas that may have improved their success. The business growth strategy you choose will be your path to success!
Thank you for reading:
Business Growth – Are You Ready?
Written By: Greg Hixon of RE-MEX-IMAGE and Hixonic Web Specialists
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