If you need a plan to grow your business, this post will show you an easy way to create a growth plan, and some of the most important things to include.
When it comes to growing a business, many entrepreneurs feel stuck or confused about the direction they should go, while some feel overwhelmed because they have too many balls in the air or lack a coherent strategy.
It’s hard to grow a business under these conditions that’s why a business growth plan is essential for your success.
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of creating a business growth plan, let me define what I mean by “business growth plan.” This is to make sure we are on the same page.
A business growth plan is basically a road map to take you from where you are right now to where you’d like to be in the future. Speaking about the future, it’s better if you have a specific time period in mind. For example, 12 months, 2 years, or something like that.
Personally, I like 12 months because it’s long enough to accomplish your goals but not too long to get distracted or bored.
Okay, so now we know what a business growth plan is, the question is, how do you create one?
Here’s how to do it.
1. IDENTIFY WHERE YOU CURRENTLY ARE
The first step to creating a small business growth plan is to identify where you are right now. Evaluate your business and assess the different areas of your business.
Once you understand or have a clear picture of how things currently stand in your business, you can move on to the next step.
2. DETERMINE WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN THE FUTURE
The next thing you want to do after you identify your current stage is to determine or decide where you’d like to be in the future. As I already mentioned, it’s better to choose a specific period of time.
In this example, let’s say 12 months. So, you’re going to set your goals or expectations for the next 12 months.
That’s the next step.
3. DECIDE HOW YOU WILL GET THERE
So, you have identified where you are (point A), and where you want to be (point B), the next step to creating a business growth plan is to outline how you’re going to get there.
How will you get from “A” to “B?”
What do you need to do? What specific action steps do you need to take?
In case you’re wondering why all this is important, the reason is that many business owners fail to achieve their goals because they lack a coherent or strategic action plan. They have big goals and big dreams but no action plan. No way to execute their goals.
If you want to grow your business in the next 12 months, you need an action plan.
Now, I guess the next question is, what should you include in your action plan? Here are some suggestions.
1. Include specific goals in some of the key areas of your business such as revenue, profit, marketing and sales, customer base or email subscribers, and so on.
2. Include broad and specific strategies to grow your business. For example, think of your marketing, sales, and product creation strategies. What are the best strategies to grow your business? For instance, do you need to create more products, increase your prices, or try new marketing strategies or sales channels?
3. Include the tools, resources, skills, or additional services you’ll need to grow your business. Additionally, consider how you’ll fund your business growth. Will you fund your growth plan from your profits or personal resources?
This is a very important consideration so make sure you give it some thought.
There’s a lot that goes into creating a small business growth plan. However, I have given you enough tips to get started.
If you need more help with creating a business growth plan or growing your business, I want to invite you to join The Biz Growth Quarterly Sprint.
The Biz Growth Quarterly Sprint is a 3-month program that’s designed to help you achieve some specific things in your business.
During this program, we’ll have six challenges and one of them is how to create a business growth plan. This challenge includes audio training, a workbook, and a checklist.
You can check out the program here.
Creating a business growth plan is all about knowing where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.
There are lots of different ways to grow your business. Use the strategies that you like and what you feel comfortable doing. As long as they are effective, you can use them to grow your business.
Are you in the process of growing your business? Do you have a plan?
Other Blog Posts You Might Enjoy