Business Growth

Business as an entity and as an entity has the ability to experience growth. Once a business starts, and with the right procedures, the business begins to evolve, and the need for advancement and improvement sets in.

Business growth is one of the topmost objectives of any business, businesses start up with growth in view. The goal of any business is to scale growth and this affects the internal and external processes of the business.

Growing a business requires more than just a wish, it requires planning, management, and targeted efforts in the line of growth and advancement.

Growth doesn’t just happen in businesses, it takes a lot of intentionality and strategic steps in line with the vision and goals of the business.

Below are some drivers of business growth.

1.VISION: Business Growth Starts with a Vision, growth for a business can be pioneered on the premise of a valid vision.

Visions help businesses reflect their full potential. 

For business growth, vision handles the question "why are we wanting to grow" and when the vision is properly stated and communicated, it transmits energy to the team and helps in channeling resources towards the path of growth for the business.

Many business leaders struggle with growth due to a lack of vision or the inability to communicate this vision. For many business leaders, their business vision most times are left on the pages of their business documents. They fail to communicate the business vision to their employees and if employees do not understand the direction of the business, it becomes difficult for growth to happen.

2. THE RIGHT TEAM: Business growth comes easy with the right team, having the right team handle the processes of a business inspires growth.

Building the team will require creating the right environment for team members, inspiring and motivating them to work, defining their roles and setting a standard culture for growth and productivity.

3. ACCESS TO FUNDS: Inadequate funding is one major obstacle entrepreneurs and businesses face in Nigeria, businesses struggle because of a lack of funds.

Funds are drivers of business growth, having access to funding promotes growth, encourages expansion, ensures ease and flexibility of business procedures and allows the business to access opportunities easily.

Access to funding positions the business for new frontiers. Funds help businesses boost sales and productivity and also increase customers buying power. 

4. RIGHT SALES AND MARKETING TOOL: There are many businesses littered in the marketplace, all in the race of getting the attention of the buyers, the question now becomes – where does your business stand in the multitude of businesses out there, what market share do you have amongst these businesses? 

Getting the attention of customers to your business most times is likely not going to be dependent on the product and services your business offers (this is also important in business growth). The growth of a business constitutes many parts, of which sales and marketing play a vital role. Identifying the right sales and marketing strategy for your business helps in generating leads for the business.

One way to think of business growth is to develop strategies to deliver top-notch products/services to the people who need it. It is important to ensure that your marketing and sales tool as a business is what your business needs and must be strategic enough to get the attention of its intended audience and in turn generate leads for business growth.

In marketing your business and generating sales, it is also important for the business to identify its target audience, many businesses fail from marketing to an irrelevant channel. The end result of marketing is sales, and must be done the right way, and to the right audience to achieve this.

5. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE: Organizational structures are important because they help businesses become more efficient and to maximize their potential to the fullest. The purpose of integrating structures into the organizational process is to ensure a more efficient running of the organization and to carry out procedures that will move the organization towards its goal.

It is important to define roles and create structures and ethics that help the business navigate toward growth. The absence of these in any business inhibits business performance and makes it difficult for the organization to experience growth.

6. MARKET DIVERSIFICATION: Diversification is important for businesses to expand their market share and explore new frontiers. Through diversification, businesses experience growth and tour the path of creating new business channels.

Diversification helps businesses make more profit. Diversification can happen at any level in business, waiting for the business to encounter challenges before diversifying will is not an ideal procedure. 

At the inception of the business, while still growing, the business is advised to look beyond its market share and start exploring opportunities that allow for more profit whilst leveraging a bigger market share.

7. INVEST IN CREATING A GOOD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE: One great way to grow your business is to invest in customer service.  A business should aim to give its customers a premium user experience and also ensure the customer service channels are top-notch.

Train and invest in your customer service team, create opportunities for great communication and feedback, develop strategies to make customers happy and ensure continuity.

8. ENGAGE IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES: One way of ensuring business growth is to have the people at heart. Psychologically people tend to tilt towards where they feel seen or heard. Engaging in corporate social responsibility is one-way businesses can give back to society and make them feel seen and listened to.

Business should learn to look beyond just profit to seek ways of improving and impacting their environment.

One easy way to go about engaging in sustainable corporate social responsibility is to take a cue from the sustainable development goals.

9. MINIMIZE RISK: Every business has its own risk, some have a high probability of risk occurrence while for others, the risk is relatively low.

The lesser the risk in a business the higher the chances of growth. As businesses explore new channels and reach out for more of the market share, the more pertinent it becomes to have risk mitigation procedures. Risks take resources and inhibit growth, putting in place processes to curb or manage risk helps businesses experience growth.

It is also important to note that businesses have peculiarities and can leverage these peculiarities alongside other factors to scale growth.