Are you a small business owner? If so, you might need several growth strategies to increase your sales and profit. These strategies are essential to moving your business quickly from level zero to the topmost. But how to implement it? What exactly is a growth strategy? Is it merely a set of rules to gain more leads and conversions? Or a general pattern to grow your business and revenue?
To help you out in this area, we have compiled some of the well-thought plans for future growth. But before looking at those options, let us see how to define a growth strategy for a small business.
A growth strategy is a plan to get your business from where you are today to where you want it to be in the next few years. Although it looks similar to a business plan, make this plan only about you and your business development.
Answer these questions before drafting your small business growth strategy:
- Who are your target customers?
- How to find new customers?
- How to expand your existing market?
- What are your product types?
- What new products could your firm offer?
Once you know the answers, you can begin with the integration of the tips mentioned below.
Six Notable Small Business Growth Strategies to Consider
- Expanding the Market
- Segmenting the Audience
- Development of Product & Market
- Usage of Different Channels
- Diversifying the Market
- Acquisition of Companies
1.Expanding the Market
You need to start expanding your existing market through penetration. You may have to brainstorm a little to find out what needs to done to capture the attention of the new audience. With the right market penetration tactic, you can quickly gain a competitive edge and save some time. This procedure requires several ways to increase your current market share.
You may find various methods online, but implement them only after studying it vigilantly. A straightforward way is to lower your selling price. The second option is to come up with various promotional offers and sales discounts. It will attract current customers and also encourages new customers to buy from you.
2. Segmenting the Audience
You cannot simply launch your product in the broad market and expect it to do wonder. It will never happen if you are targeting the wrong group of prospects. To avoid such blunders, understand your audience and their interests first. Later, segment the audience list based on several criteria, be it their gender, age, marital status, location, income, industry, or other factors.
Dividing your market into smaller segments helps you focus on a specific group. So, marketers and sales reps can easily appeal to that target market and stake the claim. It also helps you deliver personalized products for individual groups.
For example, Coca-Cola began targeting their audience based on psychographic aspects. That is, they developed different products for different segments.
- Diet Coke for those who are conscious of health
- Energy drinks for those who need energy particularly in sports
- Real Gold which targets only busy people in offices
- And many more
3. Development of Product & Market
If you want to grow your firm into the next level, you need to come out of your comfort zone. Start targeting different markets by developing new and relevant products. And, these new products need not be innovative or unique. It could just be a new feature to your existing product so that it helps the people outside your local market or the addition of different colors to attract people from all gender.
That’s pretty simple. Isn’t it?
Note: Follow this strategy only after your business has been established and in operation for several years.
4. Usage of Different Channels
How many channels do you use to promote your product? Are they producing satisfactory results? Is there any possibility of gaining attention from your potential clients by using other channels? Ask these questions to yourself to see if you can embrace alternative channels to sell more.
For instance, if you are selling your product only online, you could follow the below-mentioned tips:
- Create a mobile app to reach more customers.
- Start a pop-up shop to sell your existing products.
- Design a subscription or membership plan to find new clients.
Increasing your brand presence in different channels will help your audience reach you quickly and also improves their trust in you.
5. Diversifying the Market
You might have seen big companies diverting their brand agenda from current products and services. But why would a small firm risk their business by following this growth strategy? Because it helps them generate more leads by opening up to new paths. Although this method is considered to have high risks, it is more likely to give you high returns too.
Diversification of the market can be executed in two ways. One is to develop a whole new product or service which isn’t related to what you are doing at present. Or it could be a range of services that caters to the same market you are into.
Marketing research is essential in this approach to determine if the customers in the new market like the new product.
6. Acquisition of Companies
We have already seen various methods to expand business operations. Business acquisition is another method that helps you in this area. It is one of the most realistic yet risky ways to include in your small business growth strategy. Especially, small firms often ignore this approach as they fear to buy up the competition.
But if you have the necessary capital and capable of buying a company, go for it because it will be an add-on for your present enterprise. You can easily expand the existing product line and move into the new market. One reason is that the market is already established. Second, you don’t have to hire a new workforce or integrate new infrastructure.
But before diving into the conclusion of buying any firm, you must know precisely what you want to achieve through the acquisition method, mainly because you invest a significant amount on it.
Time to Wrap Up
These strategies are proven to help small and medium businesses with a limited budget. If you are one among them, take a closer look at it and implement it in your day-to-day business operations to push your firm towards growth. It may take some of your time and effort, but the outcome will surely benefit your business in the long run. So, why wait? There is no better day than today!