The 3 Faces of Transformational Business Growth

Many clients hire me to help them "grow" their businesses, but few come understanding what that really means with respect to their marketing. Before I can appropriately advise and assist them in achieving a "business growth" goal then, the first step is guiding them in choosing what type of growth they truly want and/or need to drive revenue.

Organic growth, in the sense of building on what you already have, is often the easiest and quickest to pursue, but it delivers small increments of improvement and thus does not support rapid, significant business transformation.

Inorganic growth, in the sense of acquiring something different, e.g., through mergers, acquisitions, strategic partnerships and joint ventures, is far more challenging and involved. It also carries significantly more risk, both to your profitability and reputation, but done well can be quickly and highly rewarding.

Regardless of approach, there are three platforms for growth to consider.

They represent a range of opportunities distinguished by the time and effort required to deliver results and the magnitude of risk and reward involved.

Each platform involves significantly different business objectives and, ultimately, very different marketing strategies for achieving them.

Operational growth, doing more of what you do, is achieved through stronger differentiation and deeper customer engagement. Your focus is on acquiring new customers, adding new channels, creating new propositions, developing new products, producing new communications and implementing new pricing.

Innovative growth, doing what you do differently, is achieved by redefining context and developing new concepts. Here your focus is on introducing new concepts, developing new applications, expanding into new markets, taking on new business partners, implementing new processes, and creating new structures.

Strategic growth, doing different things, is achieved by transforming markets with disruption and breakthrough ideas. This means your focus is on pursuing new ventures, introducing new categories, establishing new businesses, seeking new acquisitions, defining new capabilities, and implementing new business models.

Ultimately, growth is very simple -- we look at how to best use (and improve) the assets you have, including brands and relationships you've developed, and match them with the best market opportunities for profitable growth. This is a highly creative process where we work together to match your strongest assets with the best opportunities available to you, and then explore how different combinations might deliver the desired growth for your business.

However, it is important to understand all growth is a process that can't be rushed; the timelines and impact for each growth platform differ greatly.

For example, operational growth typically delivers results fastest, but with the least impact. Innovative growth takes a bit longer, but has the potential to make more of a difference. Strategic growth is the slowest of all, but the results make people stand up and say "Wow!"

I realize there are many bullshitters out there selling you on achieving exponential business growth by promising minimal effort, fast results, and instant transformation of your bottom line using flavour-of-the-month tactics. This. Does. Not. Work.

Please don't fall for their ridiculous claims or you'll soon find yourself living an expensive nightmare rather than living the dream.

Building a growth portfolio and managing your business responsibly through the changes that accompany growth requires an intelligent approach to business development and strong leadership. Like any managed portfolio, you need to balance the simple "no brainers" and more strategic "big bets" through careful evaluation and intentional strategic planning.

Jumping into joint promotional partnerships prematurely, throwing up a website and sales page, recruiting people to sell for you while you figure things out on the fly, and holding your breath as you wait for the promised cash to start rolling in while you sleep is a sure path to disaster for all involved.

All too often I see wonderful business ideas with tremendous potential fail simply because inadequate attention was paid to how to grow the business behind them. This does not have to be your story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Linda M. Lopeke, Founder of SMARTSTART, helps entrepreneurs, experts and professional services providers rise above the noise, make competition irrelevant and join the 1% who succeed in business online.

She also leads a $50M philanthropy program that helps digital business owners build their dream with access to world-class expert professional guidance made possible through corporate sponsorship. Learn more about this innovative program and apply here.