Every business owner dreams of expanding their market share and increasing sales. But this is easier said than done. The good news is you don’t have to be a million-dollar brand to grow your business.
According to statistics, a business plan increases your chances of building a successful business by 30%. You also need to apply proven growth strategies to scale your business. Here are four growth strategies startup founders can use to scale their businesses in 2023.
Diversify
When you diversify, you expand your market share using new products or services. You increase overall sales as well as your revenue. You can diversify by developing new products, offering new services, or improving your existing offerings.
Diversifying could be as simple as adding a new feature to an existing product to distinguish it from what’s in the market. You can also add a new product line to target a different audience. For instance, if you sell cars, you can open a separate outlet and sell the best cars for short people.
Consider Franchising
Franchising is a great business growth strategy for a startup with a killer business model that lacks the resources to scale. The franchisee pays for everything, including setup, and uses your business formula to run their outfit. You can franchise to multiple businesses that pay you periodically to use your business model.
Timing is an important factor in franchising. One to three years is enough to gauge whether it’s time to franchise or you need to wait longer. Timing may vary by business. Some businesses take less than a year to start franchising, while others take longer.
Form Strategic Partnerships
Strategic partnerships offer benefits to the parties involved at no extra cost. A partnership gives you access to new markets, boosting brand awareness. It also makes your business more credible to customers, so they trust it even more. Partnerships also allow businesses to adopt changes seamlessly by integrating different tools and solutions.
However, ensure you share similar values before signing any pact. Make your expectations clear, including how you’ll handle partnership dissolution. Have an attorney prepare your legal documents if you’re unsure of anything.
Enhance Your Online Presence
A recent survey shows that e-retail sales surpassed $5.2 trillion in 2021. With more than five billion internet users today, an e-commerce store is essential for every business looking to compete in the modern business landscape.
Create a functional website and add all the relevant details. It should be the face of your business and show what you stand for. Have a strong social media presence on all relevant platforms and post valuable content regularly. Build an email list and invest in email marketing. Optimize all your web pages for search engines to ensure your site ranks well and outperforms competitors’ sites.
Growing a business is a tedious process that takes time. But it doesn’t have to be. The secret to successful business growth is using time-tested strategies. Learn the strategies used by top brands and tweak them to fit your business.