Evolve Resource

The 9-Step Guide to Business Growth

What if there was an easy, step-by-step guide to teach you how to grow your business? Our 9-Step Guide to Business Growth is just that. In this eBook, we’ve mapped out the nine big pillars of growth and success in business. Download your copy now!

Transform your performance

Grow your business

Lead your marketplace

MASTERY

The first stage to business growth is mastery. The mastery stage focuses on perfecting the delivery your product or service. During the first stage we must gain control of all aspects of the business: the finances, the delivery process, and the team. Each area of your business must be stable enough to handle more work in the future. This is the only way to sustainably scale your operations and your revenue. During the mastery stage we must take an honest look at the business, identify the areas that are struggling and performing without controls or not aligned with growth. A business coach can help with this. Then, we must do the work to create efficiency, high-performance and stability.

MARKET & MESSAGE

Stage two is all about clearly defining your marketplace to position your business so it has less price competition and more chances to win. Define what is unique about your product or service. Find the message and stories that speak directly to your customers. What challenges do you solve for them? Define a brand your market loves, with language that speaks to them. Combine that unique offering with a market ideal for your business. A strong niche creates more predictable sales, cash flow and stability for the business. After you’ve clearly defined your niche, add marketing channels and promotion tools to drive new revenues to support the sales efforts.

How do you define your ideal client? Have you completed a customer avatar or buyer persona? Clearly define your ideal customer so you know exactly who you are targeting in your marketing.
What specific aspects of your product or service are only offered by you, not your competitors?
What is your differentiator? How does your business stand out from your competitors?
Do you compete on price? How often?
Do your marketing messages speak directly to your ideal customer about what’s important to them? Do you have a detailed marketing plan for the next 12 months?

PIPELINE

When it comes time to work on your pipeline, it’s time to increase your sales activities to drive leads and opportunities into your funnel.
Most companies have access to deals and opportunies that they haven’t pursued effectively: databases of contacts, repeat sales, re-connection with past clients, referrals, etc.
Overall, during this stage you will want to create more sales opportunities that wil help you drive revenue, provide more choice of work and better pricing.
New reporting standards should be set-up and tracked. Start focusing on managing your seles pipeline, tracking the metrics and strategizing on specific deals.

TEAM

As an influx of new client actions begin to accelerate the growth of your business, it is critical to review your team and their performance; their skills, attitudes and ambitions. As the business owner, you must ensure you have the right person in each position and they are performing to the best of their ability. This is an opportunity to upgrade and engage top players who can scale with the business. Everyone in your organization should have a clearly defined role and KPIs to track their success.

EXPERIENCE

The experience your customer has with your business is absolutely critical. You must think beyond the normal customer service level and create something that is emotional and impacting for the customer, your team, as well as your suppliers and all stakeholders. Make it rich, memorable and unique. A strong customer experience opens the door to better customer retention and advocacy, increased pricing, more referrals and higher profits, long term. Without a strong customer experience you will never be able to achieve your ultimate level of business success.

AMPLIFY

Once the market, experience and team stages are all well established, it’s time to amplify. The amplification process is when you increase volumes of a finely tuned, multi-pronged marketing strategy and sales plan. It involves finding individuals and organizations outside the business that can open new markets and broaden the base of clients. Amplifying the business is standing on the right rooftop, with the right message and yelling in the right direction to new and eager customers.

SYNERGY

The synergy level provides the business with a structure for growth beyond the owner(s). At this stage, you work on leadership, shared vision and goals, a strong culture and an action plan where everyone knows their roles and responsibilities — to the business, their co-workers and the customer. Creating synergy facilitates the maximum potential for growth and performance. When you can achieve synergy, you will feel a sense of ease and your team will to.

LEVERAGE

To effectively leverage the first eight steps, each area of the business is systemized to create order, routine and outstanding performance at every level. The systemization of the business allows the owner to step out of the day-to-day operations and gain back time. It creates space to focus on higher level items — like the next vision, business goals, new markets and stronger culture.

CONTROLS

To manage the freedom created at the leverage stage, controls, metrics and reporting should be defined and in place for all areas of the business including finances, production, client feedback and staff input. The metrics of the business need to be delivered ‘up’ the organization in a simple and clear reporting style which is avail- able upon demand. Good metrics will allow you to manage your business from anywhere around the globe.