What is a business growth strategy?
You wouldn’t get in your car without a clear idea as to where you want to go, so why would you not have a clear direction for where you want to drive your business?
A business growth strategy addresses how your company is going to evolve to meet the challenges of today and in the future. Growth strategies are hugely important as they keep your business moving forward and working towards long-term achievable goals which result in business growth.
However, a business growth strategy can be difficult to develop if you have never done one before or know what it entitles exactly. It is important that your growth strategy is as effective as possible for your business, that it reflects achievable goals, and moves your company in the right direction.
After all business growth is a natural process and after some time it is what we all expect to happen in any successful business. It is important that the growth the business is achieving such as; developing new products, increasing sales and brand loyalty, hiring new employees, and gaining a competitive advantage all align with their overall growth strategy.
We start by taking a look at the short, medium and long-term goals of the customer, we then identify exactly what they want to achieve and align their goals with a successful strategy. Together we put in place and identify steps to achieve these goals, which includes a timeline and a strategy on how these may be achieved.
Why is a business growth strategy important?
Any form of business strategy is hugely important as it creates one forward-focused vision for everybody involved in your business.
A business strategy that focuses on growth can be pivotal for the success and future growth of a business. A growth strategy enables you to create realistic goals, measure success and keep your business working towards the future to guarantee favourable and profitable results
How to develop and review a business growth strategy…
When developing and reviewing a business growth strategy, we first identify what success looks like for the client's business and for themselves as individuals.
We ask our clients to think of this over a reasonable time frame such as five years, so we can then set out a road map to achieve this. This road map includes key milestones and clear projects that require delivery in order to achieve success.
However, we accept that plans might change and there are always roadworks so we take these into consideration and are readily available to adapt if needed. Our experience also allows us to learn from past experiences and focus on the future with valuable experience.
Every growth strategy customer has a dedicated Portfolio holder, who manages the relationship between Pierce and the client making sure plans are on track.
Meetings between the Portfolio Holder and the client may vary depending on the amount of assistance the client requires, they could be at various points throughout the year, quarterly, or even on a monthly basis.
The frequency of meetings can also depend on the size of the business and structure. For example, larger businesses may require monthly meetings to make sure they are aligned with their strategy and smaller businesses may just require quarterly meetings in time for pre-year-end planning meetings.
Our experience has allowed us to collate a structure for developing and reviewing a business strategy that has been effective across several industries.
When developing or reviewing your strategy it is important to take a structured approach.
- Think about your location for the meeting, will you be disturbed easily?
- Are all the key members or personnel involved present in the meeting?
- How can you limit the amount of background noise to enable you to focus on the strategy?
All of these factors are important.
However, we know that it is important that any time spent away from the business is as productive as possible and doesn’t become a hindrance to the business. Therefore, you should create an environment that allows every employee to be able to speak up and voice their opinions without the fear of being ignored or dismissed.
Create an overall agenda for the meeting that covers all the overall long-term goals for the business, your current market position, and key objectives for your strategy.
Make sure that all ideas are captured in a formal document and the success of every goal is measured.
Key areas of focus for business owners…
The following steps tend to lead to increased success in their chosen marketplaces and thus improved financial performance.
Pre-Year-end planning
Pre- Year-end planning is an important part of any successful business strategy, it ensures that opportunities are planned and not missed. Planning financial opportunities is crucial to ensure the success of your strategy.
Asset protection
Every business strives towards growth, but it is important to protect that growth and all the hard work you have undertaken to get to this point. That’s why asset protection is important and it is key to protect your business and its assets.
Budgeting and forecasting
Of course, everybody knows you need some sort of budget to be able to grow any area of your business. That’s why budgeting and forecasting is a crucial element of any business growth strategy.
How can we help you develop a successful business strategy?
Unlike many of our competitors, we are independent and therefore not only work with clients but share the challenge with our own business.
Growing a business has many facets, staffing strategy, marketing strategy, systemisation, harmonisation of the business, training, and marketing. Nothing can replace first-hand experience.
We have worked with several clients and businesses across the UK to develop, measure, implement and challenge their growth strategies. Our expertise and experience allow us to recognise the key steps to a successful growth strategy and how to put this into practice for our clients.
The relationship we have with our clients is hugely important to us. Therefore, we actively dedicate time for creating a trusted relationship with our clients. This can be built from dealing with client cash flow and already offering them projections to go alongside the accounts.
Therefore, when creating a strategy for the future we have the experience and trust needed to help clients achieve their goals and much more!
Are you ready to grow your business?
Our expert team has worked with a variety of businesses from SME’s, start-ups, family-run to large corporate businesses. Whatever the size or turnover of the business, not having a growth strategy or thinking long term can keep any business small.
Book a free, no-obligation consultation with a member of our expert team today.
