Every small business wants to grow into a big one someday. Eventually you want your small business to grow into a big business, right? If that's true, then learn which big-business growth strategies might work for you.
Consider these 4 key growth strategies.
Market Segmentation
“Market segmentation” simply means picking a sub-set of the entire marketplace that you can organize your sales efforts around. Out of all the people in the world, who will you try to sell to?
Most big businesses are good at carving out their corner of the market. Then they do whatever they can to own that space.
Pepsi was losing its battle with Coca-Cola to become the heavyweight cola company. Instead of trying to beat Coke at its own game, Pepsi focused on a young, fun-loving demographic. Many Pepsi commercials show younger music stars, celebrities or other young status symbols.
Segmenting your market comes down to making choices. Who will you serve? Who will you avoid? And which segment can you focus on to improve profitability?
Use Checklists
Big businesses have massive facilities, complex supply chains and large equipment. Managing the day-to-day operations in these environments is too complex for one person. There are too many variables to track.
Guess what? Small businesses are the same way. Small business owners have to wear many hats. If you don't hold yourself accountable and remind yourself to do something that "brings home the cash," then it's easy to get caught up doing things that aren't essential. In the rush of a normal day, it's also easy to forget to do a critical task.
Take a page from big business and develop process lists or checklists for specific tasks and jobs. Give yourself a guide to success and a reminder to do the essentials each day.
Acquisitions
Perhaps the primary way that most big businesses grow is through acquisitions. Before you think I'm moving beyond by suggesting this move for small businesses, let me explain.
First, acquisitions are tough. You can easily break the bank with one bad purchase. That said, acquisitions can be a massive source of profit and a means to growth if you make a few key moves.
You know what a good buy in your industry is. Don't let emotions or ego play a role in a major purchase. Stick to the checklist.
Become An Industry Leader
Big businesses often make their name by leading an industry. They make moves when other businesses sit by the wayside.
I was recently talking with the Executives of a large distribution company that wants to do business in Ghana. There's just one problem: The distribution company ships products for other companies and those businesses don't trust the distribution channels in Ghana yet. As a result, the distribution company isn't selling in that region.
If there are no products to ship to an area, the company doesn't set up distribution in that area. But if there’s no reliable distribution network, nobody ships products.
It becomes a chicken or egg problem where neither side wants to move first.
An industry leader is willing to surmount every problem and move into unchartered waters.
Work with these principles and your success in business will be inevitable.
Take Action Today!
Source: SuccessDigest
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of OLATUNJISPEAKS.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @OLATUNJISPEAKS | BB PIN: 24D09CD1 | www.facebook.com/OLATUNJISPEAKS
No comments:
Post a Comment