I’ve worked with firms across Europe in different sectors, from manufacturing to maritime, IT to financial services. Some companies were historic family businesses, while others were maturing companies or ambitious startups.
Each grew. Some spectacularly. But the answer wasn’t one thing, it was four things, which I call the key ingredients for growth.
Ingredient #1: How you bring products to market
Some companies had successful products or services. New ones were being launched. But what looked exciting at the “engineering” stage failed to translate into sales. The breakthrough came when we adapted the proposition. In many cases, we turned dry product features into mouth-watering product benefits that connected with customer needs. The marketing spark returned, the audience “got it” and sales lit up.
Ingredient #2: How customers do business with you
Sometimes you’re so close to your own business, so familiar with its quirks and nuances, that you don’t realise how “doing business” feels from the customers’ perspective. But what if there’s something going wrong at the process level and you’re missing it Most times, it takes someone from the outside to see what’s going adrift in the customer journey and help you fix it.
Read more on business growth:
- The travel business born out of a recession and now backed by Google
- Stripe Atlas to help UK entrepreneurs scale online companies into the US
- Aston Martin to create 4,000 British jobs with new manufacturing centre in Wales
Ingredient #3: How you track and report key information
Do you want customers to tell you when problems exist or do you want to fix them before anyone notices Placing key performance indicators at strategic points across your business will tell you where today’s logjams and other issues need attention. This can be the secret to unlocking productivity, being able to scale up rapidly, and where to spend most effectively.
Ingredient #4: Refreshing your vision and team
Most of my clients’ success has been due to the talent of their people. But sometimes a great team starts to misfire, people clash and effort is wasted. The answer is to refresh your company vision, mission and values turning this into objectives, deadlines and priorities. Then get everyone to align behind your common goal, so they can move ahead confidently. If they refuse, then maybe your company isn’t the best place for them and a few new faces could improve everything
Oops. We missed something.
What I’ve described might sound like a shopping list for growth success. Just as a top chef will come up with something exciting using a set of food ingredients for you, so can an experienced business expansion expert using your business ingredients. By adding some new ingredients and using less of others your adviser can help you to mix them into a winning recipe!
Finally, there’s one extra ingredient we haven’t mentioned. And nobody can have it but you. It’s whether you have the right mindset to grow. Are you ready for change and do you have the drive and determination to see it through Only then will your vision take shape.
Stefano Maifreni is founder and director of Eggcelerate, the business expansion experts.
Despite its basic meaning, growth is actually rather complicated after all, what it means to you could be different to board members. Thats precisely why business leaders should be careful they do not to start running before the company can walk.
Image: Shutterstock
