The Three Key Steps to Growing Your Business
You’ve surely heard the famous quote “The only constant is change”. Throughout our lives, we mature and progress in different ways to adapt to the needs and demands of our changing circumstances. Not only do our own lives change, but society at large is constantly adapting and transforming. This means that business has to be prepared to change on a regular basis in order to grow.
Growing, changing, and adapting is a daily challenge for any entrepreneur. However, when growth and change become a habit, rather than a challenge, you’ll find that your business grows exponentially with the variations in markets, demands, and environments, rather than always working against them. From very small business to multibillion international conglomerates, change and growth are necessities to maintain the health and profitability of the business.
Here are three key steps to instilling a growth culture and change habits into every level of your business.
- Stay Lean and Make Creativity a Habit
In order to consistently grow and adapt to everyday changes, your business needs to remain lean. A lean business is agile, and the business model is created with adaptation and constant innovation in mind. Business processes that were relevant yesterday, which helped you to reach your business’ goals, may be working against you or may even be irrelevant today. When innovation is at the forefront of your business strategy, your people will be in the best position to use their creative resources to solve everyday problems. Creativity and constant innovation are key to every aspect of your business, from products to processes. The next step will enable you to apply strategy to constant innovation and creativity.
- Know Your SWOT
When a business predicts and prepares for change, problems and threats become opportunities for real growth. While unharnessed and misdirected creativity causes chaos and uncertainty, your SWOT will enable you to find patterns and structures in the chaos. A SWOT analysis demands that you analyze and identify your business; Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities or Threats. They are often core ingredients to an effective business plan. You may have already completed a SWOT analysis for your business. However, a SWOT analysis, like a business plan, is a working, dynamic document that must be updated and refreshed, usually at least every quarter. By regularly conducting a new SWOT analysis as part of your business’ subconscious habits, you’ll predict changes before they happen, which will help your business adapt and minimize risk. Your SWOT will help to identify an action plan to remain lean and make creativity a habit.
- Stay Lean, Think Big, Act Small
Building a business requires long-term vision and determination. Strategy is also key in developing a profitable and sustainable business in the long-term. However, while you think big in your business, be prepared to act small to make the big goals a reality. Often it’s in the detail of your products, your relationships with your clients and other aspects that enable you to achieve the greater goals. Be sure that you take care of the small details in order to continuously grow in strategic and beneficial directions.
Don’t forget that, one man’s medicine is another man’s poison. The same rule very much applies in business. What’s right for one business is not necessarily the right approach for yours. This is why it’s key to ensure that you are continuously adapting to your business environment while ensuring that your business is agile enough to be prepared to change.
Marc Pakbaz
Marc Pakbaz is the CEO of Axoro Management.
For further advice on business management consultancy, contact him [email protected] or visit www.axoro.com