Investing in business growth: do this and grow your business

Every entrepreneur who takes himself seriously is concerned with growth. Growth means progress, while stagnation means decline. You went after your dreams and started doing business. Did you know that 75% of small business not satisfied with the results of their business? They cite insufficient marketing knowledge and lack of time as the main reasons they are not growing. Do you belong to this 75%? If so, there is work to be done. Invest in business growth and do so in order to grow.

What is healthy growth for a company?

What constitutes healthy growth for a business is different for everyone. Why? Because entrepreneurship 80% is mental. It is a mindset. You can grow your business tremendously all at once, but if you can't handle it and get burnout as a result, you're further from home. To grow your business healthily, it is therefore important to invest in both business and personal growth. When you are mentally strong, growing with your business is much easier. After all, your business grows as far as its leader grows. 

Why growth and innovation as an entrepreneur is so important read here. 

The 5 growth stages of a business

Your business grows in certain phases. When your business grows to the next phase, a lot of aspects change, such as your profitability, business processes and structure. Sometimes such a phase first comes with growing pains. Your profits crazily decrease, growth stops or even declines. You work hard at it, but you have no overview. 

The Greiner model is a growth model representing the 5 different phases of business growth: creativity, leadership, delegation, coordination and collaboration. In other words, the pioneering phase, organization phase, management phase, delegation phase and standardization phase. 

Ansoff's 4 growth methods

A well-known method for business growth is Ansoff's Growth Matrix, it is also applicable to self-employed people. This matrix states that there are 4 ways to grow and here you choose a strategy:

1. Market penetration
   When you see a lot of potential in the market for your product or service with existing customers, you opt for market penetration. Here you focus on increasing your market share. And you choose to attack the market, sometimes expecting a counterattack from your competitors.
   
2. Product development
   In product development, you sell new products in an existing market. You do this through innovation; you innovate your current products. Or you innovate your products completely, in order to go further into the market. This strategy is chosen a lot because of the changing needs of consumers. So you always adapt your offerings to the needs of your top customers.
   
3. Market Development
   Market development and innovation allow you to introduce existing products into a new market. This strategy is often chosen to stay up-to-date with an existing product and use it to serve a new market. You do this because the market you are in appears to be saturated. So you tap into a new target market, which means you have to adjust your price, marketing and message.
   
4. Diversification

In the model, diversification is about selling new products in a new market. You are introducing a completely new product into a completely new market for you. This is one of the most difficult growth strategies, though. Because it means you have to invest more and spend time to gain knowledge about the new market. There is also a good chance that there is already a strong competitor specializing in this market. But it can also bring benefits, such as increased brand awareness, increased sales and increased profits. 

And then there are other ways to grow. Namely, by partnering with other companies. This is especially interesting if you are in a niche market where other companies serve the same customers. For example, a website builder and a copywriter. A collaboration can provide increased customer base and access to a new target market. An acquisition of another company is also possible. This is an option for companies that are already larger, established and have stable sales. 

Whatever growth strategy you choose, remember that you need to know what actions you may take. In addition, you must dare to experiment in order to learn so that you can continue to develop and adjust. Then, based on your lessons learned, you can adjust your strategy.

How value creation helps your business grow

When people think of growth, they often think of attracting more customers, more work and a larger supply. Whereas the key to the future is value creation. This does not involve taking on everyone as a customer. No.

• Fewer non-ideal clients = more energy, better results and more value
• Fewer tasks = more time, more energy, more impact and more value
• Less supply = more impact and more value
• Less financial risk = more revenue streams, more value
• Thinking less solo and from your company = more connection and creating value from connection

So you go for fewer not ideal clients and instead go for more of your top clients. This leaves you with more energy and time. You create more impact and value for your top clients.

You're not going to do more, you're going to do less. The focus is on what you are darn good at. This will give you more energy, more time, make more impact and offer more value. Optimize your internal processes. Look at what you can automate, what handy tools and faster software you can use, or how to do something better. Is everything running more smoothly than before? Then the path for business growth is clear. Also an interesting blog about this: Working smarter, not harder.

You don't offer more services or products. No, your offering crystallizes, making more impact and offering more value.  

You do not focus on one income stream, but on more income streams. As a result, you work toward an unlimited free life. 

You work less solo on ideas. Instead, you make connections with valuable contacts, creating value from the connection with others. Because you cannot grow alone. You share insights with each other, support each other and challenge each other to look further. Like a mastermind group does.

Ask yourself these 5 questions

So less is the answer for business growth. Do you want to go for less? Then it is important that you know which essentials are important. Ask yourself the 5 following questions:

• Who are your top customers?
• What value do you provide and make you stand out?
• What products or services do you keep in your offerings?
• What words do you use for your proposition?
• What do you want to spend your time on, what are you bang on about?
• What changes and (personal) developments are creating value?

Creating value is about optimally connecting your offering to the customer needs of your top customers. You do this, for example, by collaborating and networking, creating innovative solutions or sharing and exchanging knowledge to create more value. 

Engage the right people to grow your business

As children, we knew it was easy to ask for help. Now that we are adults, we have come up with all kinds of reasons why we want to do it alone (or worse: think we should do it alone). I had that at first, too. Until, through trial and error, I learned that by asking for help, I was actually overcoming my own "dyke of rightness. This allowed me to look beyond to see a new perspective. These very moments have allowed me to grow, both personally and professionally. With the right strategy, I am where I am today. And that has certainly not hurt me. I use all this knowledge and experience to help other entrepreneurs grow. 

Are you an ambitious entrepreneur who wants to achieve business growth through strategic innovation and development to become onMarket Profitable and grow to the top of your market? With more profit in revenue, time and impact?