Organisations who succeed in growing are the ones with a solid strategy and budget for growth. Most importantly, this must be a strategy that everyone agrees with and actively supports, not one dreamt up by half-a-dozen ‘clever’ people in a board room one rainy afternoon just before year end.
So, where do you start when developing such a strategy? Not, as many people believe, with ‘how do we sell more to existing customers’ or ‘how do we find new customers’, but with the things you need to do before you do those two things.
Just imagine Amazon targeting double digit growth over Christmas (when compared to the previous year) without thinking about the logistical implications; warehousing, packers, packaging, vehicles, drivers, fuel etc.
Simplistic I know, but it makes the point.
The next blog in this series looks at the first dimension of a successful growth strategy – Understanding the growth opportunities and barriers.