Transforming a small enterprise into a large one is never simple. Statistics suggest that only 0.04% of businesses reach the $100 million mark in yearly revenue. In other words, in our data-driven, hyper-competitive environment, most companies begin small and never go further.

If you do not want to go down this road or recognize that staying small doesn’t actually guarantee your company’s survival – you will need to build and execute your business growth strategy. A growth strategy is much more than simply envisioning long-term success. It involves having a tangible plan. Otherwise, you’re actually losing business, even decreasing your chances of being competitive.

Stage one – Identify

The first part of the development of a business growth strategy includes defining your key indicators and revenue streams. Changes need to be measurable and trackable. When you’re unable to measure a change, you have no way of knowing whether it’s efficient. Identifying which key indicators influence the growth of your business enables you to decide where to dedicate time and cash.

When it comes to your current revenue streams, you will first have to identify them. What revenue streams can increase the profitability of your business? Once you identify the potential for new revenue streams, ask yourself whether they’re sustainable in the long run. Some innovative products and amazing business ideas don’t necessarily have revenue streams attached to them.

Take care when analyzing and understanding these differences.

Stage two – Analyze

The development of a company’s growth strategy isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. As a matter of fact, due to the changes in market conditions and disrupting factors, making strategic decisions based on someone else’s successes can be foolish. That isn’t to say that you can’t learn from another enterprise, but blindly adopting a cookie-cutter plan won’t lead to sustainable growth.

You have to implement a plan that smooths out your business’s inefficiencies, refines its strengths, and better suits your customers – who can be entirely different than those from a vague, one-size-fits-all strategy. A one-size-fits-all approach implies vague indicators. However, a specific plan is a successful plan.

When you optimize your growth strategy to your customers and your business, you’ll keep your consumers happy and fulfill their wants and needs – which will make them come back for more.

Stage three – Using the data

Your organization’s data will determine all of your strategic decisions. To be specific, you can use the data from your revenue streams and key indicators to develop a personalized business growth plan. That way, you’ll better understand your company and its customers’ nuances, which will naturally lead to better growth.

However, an enterprise which doesn’t ensure the reliability and accuracy of its business data, cannot accomplish organizational growth and excellence. That highlights the relevance and importance of hiring data verification services or third-party verification services. It’s crucial to choose third-party verification services that specialize in the region where your customers are located.

For instance, Data Zoo specializes in APAC (Asia-Pacific) region so it would only be natural to use an outside verification service like this one if your customers are coming from this region. Outside service providers regularly have sets of professionally trained employees who have expertise and experience in verifying the data, making them more efficient than just having an in-house department.

Stage four – Direct

Your growth strategy will enable you to expand your business. Growth can be accomplished by investing in customer acquisition, adding new locations, expanding a product or service line, and more. The industry your business is in and the target market influence the type of growth strategy you will adopt.

Strategize, determine the available options, and integrate them into your business plan. Depending on the kind of enterprise you’re developing, your growth strategy might include, among other things:

Franchising opportunities

Selling products online across multiple channels

Product line expansion

Adding new locations

Investing in customer acquisition

The specific industry your company is in and the target market will determine your decisions, but it’s almost universally true that new customer acquisition will play a major role.

Successful businesses plan for growth. They invest time and money in it. They eventually earn it. So, what is your plan for the future?