Businesses have been facing an economic precipice for much of 2023, with recession fears resurfacing seemingly every other month. In such an environment, growth might seem unlikely – but could also be the key to survival. As a business, what are the best strategies to facilitate growth? The secrets of tenable business growth are not difficult to uncover, but are often difficult to apply to individual business situations. For this reason, the following suggestions are necessarily broad.
Expansion
On the face of things, it might seem absurd to answer the question “how can I grow my business?” with “through growth” – but, of course, there is much more to it than that. Expanding a business is a multifarious process, and one which can take any number of directions to boot. Different investments in different areas of your business will yield different results, some of which may be of more use to your present situation than others.
For a start-up business new to the market, winning customers is a vital and time-sensitive endeavour. You need to stake your claim to a sizeable corner of your market, which means marketing and product- or service development are your key areas for growth.
Borrowing is a viable way to front this growth, where more established businesses might be less able to justify it. Speaking of which, more established businesses might make changes that enable their internal team to grow – removing costly third-party outsourcing and bolstering existing market position to shield against economic insecurity.
Business Management
Sometimes, though, growth in these tangible ways cannot be conducive to the kind of growth that a business needs to experience. Where finances are stretched or markets are ailing, there is little to justify spending on expansion – and re-adjustment may be the best strategy for securing growth.
A modicum of investment, then, into profession advice from a third party could help a business find the perspective it needs to make a meaningful shift. Of course, this direction is not immune to risk either; professional negligence on the advisor’s part could see the business lose money or even inadvertently operate illegally. If successfully proven in a civil case, this could result in compensation – but not before the business’ progress had been harmed.
Acquisition or Merger
There is undoubtedly strength in numbers within the world of business, and it can be the case that businesses stand a better chance of growing by operating in each other’s interests. There are situations where it might be wise to fold a smaller business into yours via acquisition, in order to benefit from their proprietary expertise and talent without the cost of starting a new enterprise from scratch. As the smaller business, facilitating an acquisition can be beneficial for longevity – even if executive control is somewhat diminished.