The main reason most businesses fail to grow is that they fail to plan. A growth plan helps you establish clear direction for the future and brings clarity and confidence to the whole organization. 

A growth plan typically looks at the next 1 – 2 years and is adaptable with changing market conditions. The plan should have incremental steps with clear outcomes for each quarter with a review process established at least every 90 days. At this point make any necessary adjustments to ensure you stay focused on the long term plan. 

A growth plan typically focuses on the area of revenue growth with a clear directive for engaging with and offering further value to your customers. This should be communicated and established with your sales team. 

When you set out to establish a growth plan, work through these key areas in as much depth as possible: 

• Business goals – establish clear financial goals that will align with overall business vision and mission. 
• SWOT analysis – define your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This will give you a good snapshot of your current position and growth areas. 
• Client segments – analyze your target market and the demand within your industry to solve their problems. Where can you diversify to further meet their needs?
• Growth strategies – incremental steps you need to take to move your business towards your overall objectives
• Value proposition – what is your unique offering and how can you package this up for maximum impact and clarity for your sales team to be able to communicate effectively
• Competitor analysis – take a good look at what your competitors are and aren’t doing to ensure you are differentiating in some way

The three steps to developing your growth plan are: 

1. Current state – understand your current position, opportunities and capabilities. 
2. Future state – where do you want to be in 1 to 2 years and what do you need in terms of internal capabilities and external opportunities to achieve this? 
3. Understand and outline the gap – this is where you can then develop the steps you need to take in incremental steps to move from the current to the future (desired) state with clear objectives, time frames and review processes. 

Want help developing a rapid growth plan for your company? Get in touch with me to discuss: steve@permanentprogressllc.com