Assess Your Options For Growth

Introduction

It is important to evaluate whether you want to consolidate your business’ position or find ways to grow.

If you decide that your priority is growth, you need to plan carefully in order to succeed. Growth has its risks, but the right strategy can deliver stability, security and long-term profits. Once you have assessed your current position and how well equipped you are to handle growth, you can start building your strategy for growth.

This guide shows you how to evaluate the right strategy for your business, when to launch it and the finance options available. It looks at the pros and cons of diversifying and what other considerations you must think of to ensure development is smooth, on time and on target.

The importance of business growth

Your business’ focus changes as it moves beyond the start-up phase. Identifying opportunities for growth becomes a priority to ensure the enterprise’s sustainability.

You can measure growth by looking at key statistics such as your:

  • turnover
  • market share
  • profits
  • sales
  • staff numbers

However, determining which measure delivers the most accurate picture of your business’ performance depends on both your type of business and what stage it has reached.

For example, a retail business may have a high sales volume, but narrow margins on stock. These could mean low profits that undermine the business’ viability.

In general, a combination of sales and profits is the balanced way of measuring growth.

Where to begin

Even if you’re happy with your current performance, it’s important to keep looking for ways to develop. If you don’t, you risk allowing your competitors the room to grow and take market share from you, which could seriously weaken your position.

Going for growth may therefore begin by consolidating your current markets. For more information, see the page in this guide on how to consolidate your existing performance.

To devise a successful growth strategy, you need to know exactly what shape your business is in now. Read our guide on how to measure performance and set targets. This will help ensure your business is properly structured and resourced to make your growth strategy viable.

Read more: nibusinessinfo.co.uk