Are you a business executive or owner looking to plan your company’s growth over the next twelve months? As 2023 begins, it is essential to start thinking ahead and creating a company growth strategy. Clear goals will help guide leadership teams in setting strategic objectives, making resource allocation decisions, and driving the organisation towards success. In this blog, I will discuss why having a well-thought-out plan for the future is so important and provide tips on developing one that works for your organisation. 2023 is fast approaching, and if you still need to figure out your business growth strategy, this blog is for you.
What is a Growth Strategy, and how can your organisation benefit from one?
A growth strategy can help your organisation expand in a systematic and manageable way. Growth can occur in several areas, such as expansion into new territories, diversification of product or service offerings, innovation, strategic partnerships and mergers.
Developing a growth strategy is essential for any business looking to stay competitive and increase sales and revenue over time. Crafting an effective plan involves considering your organisation’s specific goals, the resources available and what makes you stand out amongst your competitors. An effective growth strategy ensures you expand your enterprise with precision.
An effective growth strategy provides the following benefits:
- It sets your organisation’s agenda: A quality strategic growth plan will pre-empt your expansion journey and provide key stakeholders with unique and valuable insight into what to expect during the process.
- It’s measurable and adaptable: Most solid development plans include multiple critical milestones, so organisations can measure their progress as they meet them to make educated decisions in other areas of the business.
- Risk planning is clearer: Granular risk analysis allows organisations to quantify risk likelihood and establish contingency plans if specific events contemplated during planning occur.
Four key Growth Strategy categories
1. Marketing strategy
Typically, businesses use this strategy to grow their market share by appealing to a more significant portion of the target demographic within which they have identified a solid product-market fit. Widely employed tactics include:
- Development of new marketing campaigns.
- Altering pricing.
- Incentivising existing customers to share the product with their networks.
2. Development strategy
The method for growing an organisation by offering the existing product to a new target market is commonly known as the ‘development’ strategy. Pursuing a new geographic location is a typical method of ‘development,’ often adopted by many large organisations.
3. Product strategy
A carefully crafted product strategy enables organisations to enhance their current offerings by developing new products/services that meet the needs of existing customers. This approach is a great way to grow while staying focused on customer satisfaction.
4. Diversification
Diversification is a higher-risk strategy involving developing new products for an unfamiliar market. Though high risk, it can be incredibly successful, as demonstrated by Amazon’s success in leveraging its name to launch multiple unrelated services and expand into uncharted territory. Success in diversification relies on established brand recognition within the existing target markets or industries to drive expansion beyond current boundaries.
Three steps in developing your 2023 Growth Strategy
1. Set SMART goals
Setting goals is essential for successful growth. Without clear and attainable goals, your growth plan will be nothing more than a dream. It is vital to establish SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) goals that specify what you need to achieve and when you need to achieve it while being realistic. For example, “I want to grow 20% in the next financial year” defines a more precise objective than simply wanting “to increase business”. From small wins like gaining new customers or increasing sales on specific products up to big-picture aspirations such as expanding into new markets – establishing SMART goals will enable efficient progress towards realising your ambitions.
2. Identify key players
Different members of your team and or external experts will need to contribute to the execution of each of your strategic growth plans. You must identify these key players and bring them into the planning stage.
If the objective is to shift target markets, your marketing team/partners must step up to the challenge. On the other hand, if the strategy focuses on product/service development, you will need to gather internal/external experts responsible for developing your product/service.
3. Identify appropriate tactics
Developing a comprehensive growth strategy involves pinpointing the most appropriate tactics for success. Look into all possibilities and choose those likely to yield optimal results, such as selecting an effective marketing campaign regarding your expansion plan. Take time to analyse every detail of each tactic before execution – thorough research is essential to success.
Conclusion
A growth strategy is vital for any organisation that wants to stay ahead of the competition and increase sales. An effective growth strategy involves setting SMART goals, identifying key players, and choosing appropriate tactics based on your organisation’s strengths. Marketing, product development, and diversification are all essential considerations when developing a successful growth strategy.
Resonate can guide your 2023 growth strategy
I help B2B business leaders define or refine their strategies. I provide strategic advice and consulting on various facets of strategy; business strategy, corporate strategy, product/service strategy, functional strategy, go-to-market, competitive strategy, pricing strategy, etc.
I aim to work with business leaders to help them make sound business decisions. More often than not, I find that the issues businesses face are caused by strategic issues.
If you are starting a new role as a business leader, or you have been with the business for a while, and you are initiating a growth strategy, let’s connect, let’s talk. I have extensive experience in guiding business leaders on strategy. I look forward to hearing from you.
Related blogs
Do you have blind spots in your decision-making?
