After an overall assessment, you conclude that your company is ready to move on. The accounts are up to date, and the team is formed and motivated. The product has great appeal, and everyone’s thinking is to expand.
At that time, the entrepreneur needs to make crucial decisions, always guided by market studies and the particularities of his company. However, some Growth Strategies must always be placed on the list. Check out!
- Definition of a clear and viable business model
The ideal is for a company’s business model to be defined from its embryonic state, but this is not always what happens in practice: a way of delivering value to the customer is imagined and, during the company’s initial journey, they discover other more viable ways to do so.
However, when it comes to this stage of growth, it is essential that your business model – what is the value delivered to the customer and what is involved in it – is already well defined and with the way to keep its viability very clear.
At that moment, BMG (Business Model Generation) comes on the scene, a tool that we will talk about later, which will help you to make all the elements on which delivery to the client depends more visible.
- Elaboration of a well-structured business plan
Many confuse the model with the business plan. However, they are different documents. In the business plan, all products and services offered are detailed. Their production methods, competition studies, market analysis, and financial projections are responsible for its strategic areas and equally important details.
The business plan may take days or even weeks to complete, as it involves a significant amount of information that needs to be well organized. It is the detailed documentation of the functioning and viability of the growth of the business model.
It works as a kind of script that serves as a guide for the conduct of the company’s managers, so, normally, when seeking to attract investments for the company, it is necessary to present it to give more credibility to the business.
The model and the business plan together are like saying to the investor: – hey, I have a good idea, and I know how to make it work and grow sustainably!
- Deep knowledge of the target audience profile
In the business plan, a target audience was defined; now, it is time to get to know him more deeply, better understand his behavior, and find the best way to get to him.
The ideal is to apply research with a universe composed of people who belong to this audience and, through the results, build one or more personas, that is, the representations of the ideal customers of the company, including their habits, behaviors, and style of life.
- Search for differentiation strategies
There are three ways to differentiate yourself from the competition: cost, focus, and differentiation.
Knowing and adopting these strategic models to differentiate yourself from the competition is a way of ensuring more sustainable growth. But what does each of them mean?
Focus
Leading a market through focus is to focus all your business efforts on solving problems in a particular niche. Thus, your company will be able to go deeper into this segment and bring more efficient solutions to it.
Cost
The cost strategy aims to optimize the commercial, management, and production processes to reduce the company’s operating costs. In this way, while the competition needs to invest profits in remaining competitive, you guarantee more meaningful financial results.
Differentiation
The differentiation strategy stands out for the quality and exclusivity of the product or service offered to its public. It has no competitors, simply because it is unique in the market.
Usually, differentiation is achieved through investment in high technology and innovation and in the development of exclusive characteristics that are difficult to be copied by the competition.
- Opening of new points of sale
Territorial expansion is one of the first things that come to mind for many entrepreneurs when looking for ways to grow. Businesses must carry out this type of operation with local operations, in which the close relationship with the public makes the difference in the purchase process.
Supermarkets, bakeries, sundries are examples of companies that can use this strategy to increase revenue. This practice, however, should only be performed when a consolidated company already exists, with standardized processes and an impeccable organizational disposition.
- Offering your business as a franchise
Examples of brands that achieved success when investing in the franchising system: McDonald’s, Subway, Pizza Hut, O Boticário, Cacau Show, and CCAA are highlights.
This type of strategy is a powerful tool for the development of networked businesses. When performed properly and with professional monitoring, it has great growth potential, both for the franchisee and the franchisor.
- Diversification of products and services
Widely used by large corporations, this sales methodology aims to reach new audiences. Or even deliver new options for the same consumer goods to current customers. Companies like Sony, Ferrari, and Samsung already use this methodology.
It is important to note that this type of expansion can follow two paths: one is that of cohesion between a product line and the other, an experiment in a market different from the one traditionally impacted by the brand.
For example, Microsoft, a technology company, has a correlated product portfolio. The portfolio includes various software, operating systems, video game consoles, and others, while Virgin operates in totally different areas, such as music production and aviation.
If your business is seasonal, you know how difficult it is to spend months with below-average sales. In this case, diversification can be a viable solution. This tactic allows a company to have more than one source of income.
- Purchase of new companies
We often read news about big companies being bought by others. Facebook, the largest social network in the world, has acquired Instagram and WhatsApp in recent years.
Although there is nothing wrong with this practice, special care must be taken with consistency in the companies purchased. After all, when you buy a brand, you become responsible for its management. And this requires knowledge and expertise in the business area.
Growth Strategies For Companies
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