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The Importance of Sales Force Management in Driving Business Growth

Sales force management plays a crucial role in driving business growth. It involves the planning, organizing, and controlling of a company’s sales team to achieve sales targets and improve overall performance. Effective sales force management can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line, customer satisfaction, and market share. In this article, we will explore the importance of sales force management and how it can contribute to business growth.

Building an Efficient Sales Team

One of the key aspects of sales force management is building an efficient sales team. This involves hiring the right people with the necessary skills and experience for the job. A well-structured recruitment process can help identify individuals who are motivated, goal-oriented, and possess excellent communication skills.

Once the team is assembled, it is important to provide them with proper training and development opportunities. Equipping the sales team with product knowledge, industry insights, and effective selling techniques will enable them to perform at their best. Regular training sessions should be conducted to keep their skills up-to-date and enhance their performance.

Setting Clear Goals and Targets

An essential part of sales force management is setting clear goals and targets for the sales team. These goals should align with the overall business objectives and provide a clear direction for the team members. By defining specific targets, such as revenue goals or market share targets, it becomes easier to measure performance and track progress.

Setting realistic yet challenging goals motivates the sales team to strive for excellence. It provides them with a sense of purpose and direction in their daily activities. Regularly reviewing these goals helps identify areas that need improvement or adjustments in strategies to ensure continuous growth.

Implementing Effective Sales Strategies

Sales force management involves implementing effective sales strategies that maximize revenue generation while maintaining customer satisfaction. This includes developing a well-defined sales process that outlines each step from prospecting to closing deals. The sales process should be designed to identify potential customers, nurture leads, and convert them into paying customers.

In addition to the sales process, sales force management also entails implementing effective sales techniques and tools. This may include providing the team with customer relationship management (CRM) software, sales enablement tools, and effective communication channels. These tools streamline the sales process, improve efficiency, and enable better collaboration among team members.

Monitoring and Evaluating Performance

Monitoring and evaluating the performance of the sales team is a critical aspect of sales force management. Regularly tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue growth, conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and customer satisfaction levels helps identify areas that need improvement.

By analyzing these metrics, managers can identify strengths and weaknesses within the team or individual performances. This provides insights for making informed decisions regarding training needs or adjustments in strategies. Furthermore, monitoring performance allows managers to recognize top performers and reward their efforts accordingly.

In conclusion, sales force management is vital for driving business growth by building an efficient sales team, setting clear goals and targets, implementing effective strategies, and monitoring performance. By investing time and resources into managing the sales force effectively, companies can achieve higher revenue generation, increased market share, and improved customer satisfaction. It is a strategic function that should not be overlooked in any organization’s pursuit of success.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

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8 Growth Plan Examples for Your Business

Table of Contents

When it comes to business growth, companies have plenty of opportunities to invest. But because there are so many options of where and how to invest, deciding what’s right for your organization can be overwhelming.

This article covers eight growth plan examples to reach a more extensive customer base, surpass competitors, and expand your business.

What Are Business Growth Plan Strategies?

Business growth plan strategies help a company grow, allowing the company to potentially become stronger, larger, and more profitable. Growth might occur through raising capital from strategic investors, developing new products, and reducing advertising costs to lead to a better outcome.

Business growth plans are dynamic tools used by management to grow the company’s size and market share. But the plan itself is typically designed with investors in mind. This is so that investors may understand how the company they’ve invested in intends to spend their money and develop as a business. A thorough business growth plan will achieve that objective.

Why Are Growth Strategies Important?

A growth strategy is a set of actions and decisions meant to increase the size of your business over a specified period of time. This can be anything from opening a new store to entering a new market in order to gain market share. This can result in a growth in revenue, profit, or other variables of your business.

Moreover, growth plans provide your business with a goal and long-term direction. You can maintain your focus on the future by laying out a plan of action for areas where your business might be improved.

Through these growth strategies, You may enhance upon what is already effective and make changes to things that require improvement.

Finding the most effective plan for your business is vital because no growth strategies are universal. However, breaking down your ideas into smaller bits will help you analyze scopes of improvement and accomplish specific objectives.

Types of Growth Plans for Your Business

The types of growth plan vary based on what goals you’re trying to meet. An effective growth plan is one that is as specific as your goal and as flexible as your team. The most common types of business plans are:

Market Strategy

Growth plans should be designed around the market strategy; these range from a target market approach to a revenue-generating strategy. If you have just begun your company, these strategies might be simple and small to keep the company’s growth manageable.

Speak to your current and potential customers to learn what they want and are looking for while formulating your strategy.

Development Strategy

A development strategy tries to open up a new market for the goods and services offered by your business. This comprises creating consumer profiles and looking for new market segments and demographics to target with marketing and advertising.

Product Strategy

A product strategy plan helps entrepreneurs find new and innovative products for their company and develop a marketing plan to generate sales.

Such a plan aims to balance the need for a creative new product with the need for stability and scalability. A product strategy plan also helps the entrepreneur create a successful product launch, ensuring strong sales.

Diversification

Development and product strategy are both elements of diversification. Chunking down product sales can be an excellent way to grow your business by diversifying your offerings.

You can increase your revenue by getting into other markets and pricing your product differently. You can also increase your influence by providing a similar product in another market with the same benefits. This will help you interact with new customers and create opportunities for new sales.

Top 8 Growth Plan Examples

A growth plan is a business development strategy designed to help an enterprise grow and increase profitability. It helps plan out long-term and short-term goals and focuses on how an enterprise can grow cash flow, sales, and other metrics.

Following a suitable growth plan can help you reach a more significant portion of the market share. Below are the top eight growth strategies frequently used by businesses.

1. Start Promotions

Promotion starts with community engagement. This can be accomplished through social media marketing and is key at any stage of your company’s growth plan. Building brand awareness and incorporating social advertising into your current marketing mix will help propel you to the next level.

2. Viral Loops

Viral loops are a marketing technique designed to generate word-of-mouth advertising. Viral loops work by creating a loop, which is a back-and-forth process that establishes and reinforces a relationship between two or more people.

3. Check Pricing

Pricing is a marketing activity that relies on the knowledge and experience of your business’s goals and the market’s needs. Companies could use low prices as a growth strategy. Consumers are frequently drawn to your brand when you provide a more affordable option than your competitors.

4. Ensure Quality

A business reflects its quality by measuring its team and customers, as well as its ability to generate revenue and competitive advantage. Businesses that frequently concentrate on raising the quality of their goods and services reap the rewards.

With a business plan, you can create a quality company culture. As a result, you can have an efficient sales and marketing strategy with increased customer trust and recommendations.

5. Word of Mouth

Word of mouth can be a great growth strategy. If you need it to be, you need to promote your products or services in a way that brings in talk.

Provide perks for influential people in your industry, such as celebrities, influencers, and top journalists. They will most likely help promote your product for you. All the more reason to learn leadership skills!

6. Strong Branding

If you want your business to grow, it’s vital that you have a strong brand. Building a strong brand means not just promoting your business but also guaranteeing your customer a consistent experience and the trust of a brand.

One way to implement a strong brand is by creating a unique value proposition for your customers that other companies cannot offer.

7. Targeted Emails

Targeted emails are an effective way of determining the most effective way of improving your business. They can be sent to targeted customers, departments, employees, and clients. They may be sent to a group of people in a personalized manner using keyword phrases that reflect their role or level of importance. You may send emails based on age, shopping habits, and region to increase engagement through relevancy.

8. Customer Experience

Good customer experience is not just about a great product. It’s also about how you and your team create unforgettable interactions with customers, investors, and partners.

You can do this by offering a live chat feature for customers on your website. You can also send personalized emails thanking customers and suggesting additional products based on past purchases.

These methods boost customer loyalty, increasing your possibility of gaining repeat customers.

Growing a business is not easy. Today we have thousands of ways to build a business and build an exit strategy. But we must have business growth plans to help guide our decisions in the short and long term. So before you strategize your first growth plan, go through these top 8 examples and analyze the areas of improvement for your business expansion.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Writing a Business Growth Plan

Table of contents.

When you run a business, it’s easy to get caught in the moment and focus only on the day in front of you. However, to be truly successful, you must look ahead and plan for growth. Many business owners create a business growth plan to map out the next one or two years and pinpoint how and when revenues will increase. 

We’ll explain more about business growth plans and share strategies for writing a business growth plan that can set you on a path to success. 

What is a business growth plan?

A business growth plan outlines where a company sees itself in the next one to two years. Business owners and leaders apply a growth mindset to create plans for expansion and increased revenues.

Business growth plans should be formatted quarterly. At the end of each quarter, the company can review the business goals it achieved and missed during that period. At this point, management can revise the business growth plan to reflect the current market standing.

What to include in a business growth plan

A business growth plan focuses specifically on expansion and how you’ll achieve it. Creating a useful plan takes time, but keeping your growth efforts on track can pay off substantially.

You should include the following elements in your growth plan:

• A description of expansion opportunities
• Financial goals broken down by quarter and year
• A marketing plan that details how you’ll achieve growth
• A financial plan to determine what capital is accessible during growth
• A breakdown of your company’s staffing needs and responsibilities

Your growth plan should also include an assessment of your operating systems and computer networks to determine if they can accommodate profitable growth .

How to write a business growth plan

To successfully write a business growth plan, you must do some forward-thinking and research. Here are some key steps to follow when writing your business growth plan.

1. Think ahead.

The future is always unpredictable. However, if you study your target market, your competition and your company’s past growth, you can plan for future expansion. The Small Business Administration (SBA) features a comprehensive guide to writing a business plan for growth.

2. Study other growth plans.

Before you start writing, review models from successful companies.

3. Discover opportunities for growth.

With some homework, you can determine if your expansion opportunities lie in creating new products , adding more services, targeting a new market, opening new business locations or going global, to name a few examples. Once you’ve identified your best options for growth, include them in your plan.

4. Evaluate your team.

Your plan should include an assessment of your employees and a look at staffing requirements to meet your growth objectives. By assessing your own skills and those of your employees, you can determine how much growth can be accomplished with your present team. You’ll also know when to ramp up the hiring process and what skill sets to look for in those new hires.

5. Find the capital.

Include detailed information on how you will fund expansion. Business.gov offers a guide on how to prepare funding requests and how to connect with SBA lenders.

6. Get the word out.

Growing your business requires a targeted marketing effort. Be sure to outline how you will effectively market your business to encourage growth and how your marketing efforts will evolve as you grow.

7. Ask for help.

Advice from other business owners who have enjoyed successful growth can be the ultimate tool in writing your growth plan.

8. Start writing.

Business plan software has streamlined the process of writing growth plans by providing templates you can fill in with information specific to your company and industry. Most software programs are geared toward general business plans; however, you can easily modify them to create a plan that focuses on growth. 

If you don’t have business plan software, don’t worry. You can create a business growth plan using Microsoft Word, Google Docs or a similar tool. For each growth opportunity, create the following sections: 

• What is the opportunity? Is your growth opportunity a new geographic expansion, a new product or a new customer segment? How do you know there’s an opportunity? Include your market research to demonstrate the idea’s viability.
• What factors make this opportunity valuable at this time? For example, your growth opportunity could utilize new technology, take advantage of a strategic partnership or capitalize on a consumer trend.
• What are the risk factors for this opportunity? Identify factors that may make this growth opportunity challenging to execute. For example, challenges may include the state of the overall economy, intense competition or supply chain distribution issues. What is your plan for dealing with these challenges?
• What is your marketing and sales plan? Identify the marketing efforts and sales processes that can help you seize this growth opportunity. Detail the marketing channel you’ll use ( social media marketing , print marketing), your message and promising sales ideas. For example, you could hire sales reps for a new geographic area or set up distribution deals with relevant brick-and-mortar or online retailers .
• What are the costs involved in this growth area? For example, if you add a new product, you may need to buy new manufacturing equipment and raw materials. While marketing costs are a given, remember to include incremental sales costs like commissions. Outline any economies of scale or places where your existing operations make the new growth area less expensive than a stand-alone initiative.
• How will your income, expenses and cash flow look? Project your income and expenses, and prepare a cash flow statement for the new growth area for the next three to five years. Include a break-even analysis, a sales forecast and all projected expenses to see how much the new initiative will add to the bottom line. Include how the new growth area will positively (or negatively) impact existing sales. For example, if you sell bathing suits and you decide to grow by adding cover-ups and sunglasses, you will likely sell more bathing suits. 

A cash flow statement will indicate if you must secure additional financing, and a break-even analysis will let you know when the growth opportunity will stop being a drain on the company’s financial resources and start turning a profit.

After completing this exercise for each growth opportunity:

• Create a summary that accounts for all growth areas for the period.
• Include summarized financial statements to see the entire picture and its impact on the company. 
• Evaluate the financing you’ll need to implement the plan, and include various options and rates. 

Why are business growth plans important?

These are some of the many reasons why business growth plans are essential:

• Market share and penetration: If your market share remains constant in a world where costs consistently increase, you’ll inevitably start recording losses instead of profits. Business growth plans help you avoid this scenario.
• Recouping early losses: Most companies lose far more than they earn in their early years. To recoup these losses, you’ll need to grow your company to a point where it can make enough revenue to pay off your debts.
• Future risk minimization: Growth plans also matter for established businesses. These companies can always stand to make their sales more efficient and become more liquid. Liquidity can come in handy if you need money to cover unexpected problems.
• Appealing to investors: For most businesses, a business growth plan’s primary purpose is to find investors . Investors want to outline your company’s plans to build sales in the coming months.
• Concrete revenue plans: Growth plans are customizable to each business and don’t have to follow a set template. However, all business growth plans must focus heavily on revenue. The plan should answer a simple question: How does your company plan to make money each quarter?

Motivate your employees by sharing your growth plan. When employees see an opportunity for increased responsibility and compensation, they’re more likely to stay with your business.

What factors impact business growth?

Consider the following crucial factors that can impact business growth:

• Leadership: To achieve your goals, you must know the ins and outs of your business processes and how external forces impact them. Without this knowledge, you can’t direct and train your team to drive your revenue, and you will experience stagnation instead of growth.
• Management: As a small business owner, you’re innately involved in management – obtaining funding, resources, and physical and digital infrastructure. Ineffective management will impact your ability to perform these duties and could hamstring your growth.
• Customer loyalty: Acquiring new customers can be five times as expensive as retaining current ones, and a 5 percent boost in customer retention can increase profits by 25 percent to 95 percent. These statistics demonstrate that customer loyalty is fundamental to business growth.

What are the four major growth strategies?

There are countless growth strategies for businesses, but only four primary types. With these growth strategies, you can determine how to build on your brand.

• Market strategy: A market strategy refers to how you plan to penetrate your target audience . This strategy isn’t intended for entering a new market or creating new products and services to boost your market share; it’s about leveraging your current offerings. For instance, can you adjust your pricing? Should you launch a new marketing campaign?
• Development strategy: This strategy means looking into ways to break your products and services into a new market. If you can’t find the growth you want in the current market, a goal could be to expand to a new market.
• Product strategy: Also known as “product development,” this strategy focuses on what new products and services you can target to your current market. How can you grow your business without entering new markets? What are your customers asking for?
• Diversification strategy: Diversification means expanding both your products and target markets. This strategy is usually best for smaller companies that have the means to be versatile with the products or services they offer and what new markets they attempt to penetrate.

Max Freedman contributed to this article.

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7 Growth Plan Templates to Build a Growth Strategy

ClickUp Contributor

October 20, 2023

Ever feel like you’re steering your ship without a compass? You want to grow your business, but the “how” aspect might be unclear. If you feeling lost at sea, a growth plan template could be the guiding star you’re looking for. ⭐ 

A growth plan template is a bit like a business-minded GPS, leading you through the winding roads of market trends, financial forecasts, and strategic planning . A good one will be your go-to guide for turning your big ideas and plans into a concrete roadmap to success. With a plan in place, you’ll reach your growth goals with ease. 

In this guide, we’ll show you what makes a rock-solid growth plan template and how easily it works for business owners and entrepreneurs. We’ll also set you up with growth plan templates so your organization functions more fluidly and effectively. Let’s dive in! 

What are the key components of a growth plan template?

1. clickup growth experiments whiteboard template, 2. clickup 30-60-90 day plan template, 3. clickup ansoff matrix whiteboard template, 4. clickup product development roadmap whiteboard template, 5. clickup development schedule template, 6. clickup process audit and improvement template, 7. clickup employee development plan template, what is a growth plan template.

A growth plan template is a preformatted document that guides businesses in outlining objectives, strategies, and actions aimed at business growth. Think of it like a strategic plan or framework for focusing on different growth elements, such as market expansion, product development, and financial projections. And it applies just as much to startups as it does to established businesses. 🙌

It serves as a roadmap, giving cohesion and clarity to your growth initiatives. Whether scaling or diversifying, a growth plan template offers a structured way to find opportunities and roadblocks. And since it provides dedicated areas for keeping track of metrics and KPIs, measuring progress and adjusting strategies is user-friendly.

Growth plan templates provide a framework for outlining a business’s growth objectives and strategies for achieving them. Here are some critical components of a growth strategy template:

• Executive summary : An overview of the growth strategy and its goals 
• Business overview : Details of your organization and its current operations
• Market analysis : Research on your target market (and the current market) will inform your growth strategy. Know your customer base, know your strategy
• Growth objectives : Clear, measurable goals tied to a timeline. This could be new customers, revenue growth, a social media strategy, or improving customer retention
• Strategies and tactics : The actions you’ll take to achieve your growth objectives
• Financial projections : Estimates of projected revenue and profit if growth objectives are achieved
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) : Metrics and other measurable data demonstrate the success of your growth strategy
• Resource allocation : A list of resources needed to reach your objectives, like a new marketing strategy, business model, or financial plan
• Risks and mitigation strategies : Assessing risks that could derail your plans and contingencies for avoiding those circumstances
• Implementation timeline : A schedule for when milestones will be reached and objectives completed
• Review and adjustment process : A system for reviewing and adjusting as necessary

7 Growth Plan Templates

If you haven’t turned to various strategic planning templates in your continuous effort to increase revenue, measure success, and identify new growth opportunities, then the time is now.

These pre-built assets are designed to help teams create and execute a unique business plan regardless of your industry or how many employees you’re working with. Bypass the hassle of spreadsheets and emails with a template that makes running experiments a breeze. 🌬

ClickUp makes it easy to find a business growth plan template customized to your needs. Get clarity on metrics and other KPIs vital to mapping out your organization and where you’d like it to be. A thoughtful and strategic business growth plan may be the missing piece you’re looking for. Here are seven growth plan templates to check out!

ClickUp’s Growth Experiments Whiteboard Template is a valuable resource for bringing your team together during brainstorming and growth planning sessions. With the ability to plan and act on your ideas from the same collaborative space, this template has every feature you need to follow through on an effective business growth plan.

You can customize every inch of this business growth plan template template—from the structure itself to the objects that bring it to life. Add sticky notes, Docs, media, or even live websites to your growth plan for additional context regarding your business operations. Then act on your ideas in an instant with the ability to convert any object on your board directly into an actionable task.

Plus, ClickUp Whiteboards are highly visual, meaning you can maintain a high-level view of the entire growth plan from the initial idea through implementation. 

Each department’s growth plan should align with the strategic objective of the overall company. Suppose you’re aiming to revamp a marketing plan or reach a new target market. In this case, you may need to bring on team members with different skill sets or focus on team expansion. 

ClickUp’s 30-60-90 Day Plan Template provides an actionable framework for onboarding new employees. Quickly set goals, create milestones, and identify the steps needed to integrate smoothly into a new organization. 

Custom features show you how progress is tracked at a glance, like a separate view for onboarding, which helps organize and keep track of all onboarding tasks. Or use Chat view to collaborate with stakeholders and discuss progress deftly. And with References view, store all necessary references for your plans. 

When your organization aims for more growth and diversification, a 30-60-90 plan ensures a coordinated and transparent process where everyone is on the same page. At the same time, you’re enhancing how your team operates. Having the right tool in your corner is indispensable. 

Understanding the risks and rewards associated with different business growth strategies is invaluable for sound decision-making. After all, what good is a growth strategy aimed at market penetration if it could potentially compromise your business?

Use ClickUp’s Ansoff Matrix Whiteboard Template to visualize available strategic options in a way that’s simple to understand and enhances collaboration with your team. This template makes it straightforward and intuitive to identify opportunities and risks, understand which strategies are the most appropriate for your business, and compare different plans against each other to find the best fit. 💡

And it easily adapts to your organization’s level. Launching a new product or planning explosive growth in new markets? Use this template for both.

Features like tagging, nested subtasks, multiple assignees, and priority labels make project management precise and extraordinarily efficient. Being able to brainstorm, organize ideas, and create content with team members ensures everyone is working in harmony. Status labels like Open and Complete add to the frictionless workflow.

If your organization is focusing on innovation, developing new products, or entering new markets, you’ll want to align those goals with your overall growth strategy. And all of that requires teamwork, planning, and clear direction. 

When you need a growth plan template that’s easily customizable, ClickUp’s Product Development Roadmap Whiteboard Template is a no-brainer. This template is designed for you to visualize, document, and track product development progress.

Features like custom fields let you manage tasks and visualize a path to product development that’s way more straightforward than a spreadsheet. Identify potential problems long before they become a fire you need to put out. Cross-team dependencies are easy to see, and engaging with stakeholders is seamless.

So whether you’re experimenting with pricing changes, improving existing products, or something in between, the key is having a comprehensive tool that keeps everyone in sync. And the right template can act as a centralized platform to empower team members in executing growth strategies effectively. 

Unlike a product development roadmap, which offers a high-level view of a growth strategy and its direction, a development schedule digs deep into the nitty-gritty. See it as a more granular and tactical guide for you and your team. 

Recognizing the need for meticulous planning, ClickUp’s Development Schedule Template ensures each step in your organization’s process is completed accurately and precisely. Stay on track, meet deadlines, adjust your schedule as needed, and allocate your resources and budget appropriately.

Update statuses for tasks with labels such as Done, In Progress, Needs Input, Stuck, and To Do to keep your team members informed and your projects on track. And use custom attributes like Stage, Attachment, Estimated Duration Days, Remarks, and Actual Duration Days to visualize progress at a glance.

A well-designed development schedule is much more than a sophisticated to-do list of tasks. It’s a dynamic and adaptable framework that helps you align strategic planning with tangible execution. 

Most organizations probably have a few processes they would like to improve or streamline in their company. And since those processes influence the scalability of a business, initiatives for expansion into new markets, and product development, it pays to keep tabs on their effectiveness. 

Use ClickUp’s Process Audit and Improvement Template to keep those tabs. The template allows you to execute quick process reviews or dive deep into how every aspect of your system functions. 🛠

Custom statuses like Not Started, In Progress, Complete, and To Do make keeping track of progress a breeze. Open two different views in different ClickUp configurations, such as the Overview and Getting Started Guide, so you and your team will have no problem jumping right into optimizing the processes that need it.

Categorize and arrange tasks to suit your needs—like audit planning, data analysis, and implementation—so you’ll clearly see the path from A to B. And combining this template with goal-tracking apps , teams and individuals will see progress on an even more detailed scale.

By conducting routine audits, you’ll optimize your processes for efficiency and productivity . Improve customer service and satisfaction by leaps and bounds. You’ll be able to create your own roadmap for taking corrective action where you need to and increase the quality of your decision-making. 

Employee development is an essential piece of any growth strategy. Your team members are one of your most valuable assets, and as your organization grows, your employees should grow with it. 

An employee development plan shows you which departments or areas need new talent and which ones may need it in the future. These plans play a role in maintaining an engaged and motivated workforce, too. Even better, you’ll improve employee retention rates and create an environment that encourages your current team members to develop into future leaders in your organization. 🌻

With ClickUp’s Employee Development Plan Template , you’ll ensure your team is always aligned on the most critical objectives. 

Start by assessing where your team members stand with their current knowledge and skill levels. Next, establish clear short and long-term goals that are personalized for each team member. Once you’re clear on the resources you need to meet those objectives, use the information you’ve gathered to create an action plan tailored to each member of your team.

The Development Status List view will assist in keeping track of how each employee’s development plan is progressing. Organize your team’s tasks into different statuses, including Done, For Review, and In Progress, so you always know where you are in your growth strategy. Having essential information all in one place also keeps stakeholders well-informed and in the loop.

The same strategy works for departments within your organization, as well. By creating individual and comprehensive development plan templates and tracking progress and performance with measurable goals, you’ll know that you’re building a successful and productive team. 

Choose the Best Growth Plan Template for Your Team

Whether you’re honing in on market share, tweaking your marketing strategy to include SEO, or brainstorming your next big move with vision board templates , a growth plan template can take your organization to new heights. 🦅

It’s not just a tool for executives and leadership in an organization. Team members benefit from a clear roadmap that aligns their day-to-day tasks with the overarching company objectives. The flexibility to customize your template means it’s adaptable, whether you’re a small business dreaming big or an established company looking for incremental improvement. 

If you’re looking for an all-in-one tool that lets you seamlessly move from product development and ideation to process audits to mapping out company growth potential and more, sign up for ClickUp — it’s Free Forever.

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Growth Plan: What is it & How to Create One? (Steps Included)

“I want to increase sales this quarter. I want to expand my business this year. I want to hire new employees this month. I want to improve the quality of my product by the end of this year. I want to hit a new market target.”

If you run a business, you’ve probably said these things or something similar a thousand times. After all, every business has a list of goals they want to achieve by a particular time.

In a perfect world, we’d set goals, and we’d reach them without much effort. Unfortunately, in the real world, there are a lot of things we need to do after setting goals, like creating a growth plan.

A growth plan isn’t just about the goals and future of your business, but also the strategies you would implement to make sure that your vision comes to life.

Considering the fact that 50% of businesses fail during their first five years and 66% fail during their first ten, creating a solid growth plan is quintessential.

So, in this blog post, we’re going to tell you all about growth plans and how you can create one that works like a charm. So buckle up because you’re in for a ride.

Growth Plan: What Exactly is it? (Definition)

A growth plan is a strategic plan about how every aspect of your business will walk towards attaining the business goals. With a growth plan in hand, you’ll know exactly what to do, how, and when to do it.

Even though a growth plan sounds like the marketing tactics you’d implement to grow your business, it’s a lot more than that. It encompasses an overview of everything you’d be doing to grow your business.

Let’s understand the concept of a growth plan better with an example.

Suppose you’re running a gaming laptop business. Your goal is to increase your sales by 60% over the next five years. To achieve this goal, you might need to carry out a plethora of tasks like:

• Hiring new, more experienced sales reps.
• Upgrading the product after conducting market research.
• Finding investors who’d be willing to invest in the new version of the laptop.
• Hiring a social media marketer to handle your business’s social media accounts.
• Creating a TV advertisement that hits the right spot.

Now, you’d be writing all these things in your growth plan, along with other details like timeline, budget, name of the people responsible for carrying out a particular task, and more.

Want to know some other reasons why you need to create a growth plan? Let’s find out!

Read more:  Growth Marketing: What is it & How to Carry it out for your Business?

3 Reasons Why You Should Create a Growth Plan

1. keeps you focused.

When you’re running a business, you usually try to flap your wings around in different places.

But, when some places don’t give you the results you expected, you get frustrated and realize that you wasted so much of your time and effort that you could’ve invested in other areas.

Well, a growth plan can help you avoid that frustration. With a growth plan, you’d know exactly what areas you should be focusing on and what areas you don’t need to pay attention to.

The result? You won’t be wasting any time and effort on places you won’t get any return from.

Read more:  Business Development Plan: What Is It And How To Create A Perfect One?

2. Helps You When Things Go Sideways

We don’t want to scare you, but the landscape of the market is changing at a rapid pace.

That means things in your business can go haywire at any time. But, you really don’t need to worry about that if you have got a strong growth plan in place.

Like we said above, in a growth plan, you write all the strategies that’d lead you to growth. When things go wrong, you can just pick one of the strategies, modify them according to the current scenario, and you’re good to go!

3. Gives You a Direction

Your business isn’t a road trip. You can’t go rogue and see where the road takes you. You need a roadmap, a direction…and that’s exactly what a growth plan gives you.

A growth plan shows you the way towards achieving your goals. It tells you the route you need to take to reach your goals . Without it, you might end up taking the wrong turn and reach a dead end.

To put it simply, when you have a growth plan with you, you’ll know all about what you need to do to make your business successful.

Considering the importance of a growth plan, creating it is not something you can rush through. There are some steps that you need to follow, and we’re going to tell you all about them.

How to Create a Growth Plan In 5 Easy-Peasy Steps?

Set 1. set goals.

Every plan starts with setting business goals , and a growth plan is no different.

After all, you can’t just say “I want this” and expect something to happen automatically. You need to define what exactly you want to achieve, i.e., you need to set your goals.

Also, always make sure that your goals are not vague but realistic and measurable. For instance, “ Increasing sales ” isn’t a solid goal. “ Increasing sales by 20% over the next 6 months ” is the kind of goal you can measure.

Step 2. Conduct Market Research

You might think that once you’ve decided on your goals, you can just go ahead and start creating strategies. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.

There’s another important step that you need to follow: carrying out market research. Creating strategies without considering the market is not going to help you achieve your goals.

Examine your target audience, the condition of the market, and your competitors. Evaluate what your audience is looking for, how saturated the market is, and what your competitors are doing.

Step 3. Evaluate Your KPIs

Once you’ve done the market research, it’s time to get back home, aka your business, and do some digging. You need to find out what’s working for your business and what’s not.

The best way to figure that out is by evaluating your KPIs. For those who don’t know, KPIs stand for Key Performance Indicators. They are the metrics that are “key” in determining your business’s success.

By assessing your KPIs, you’ll find out the key areas that are giving you the most fruitful results. You can then target these areas while you’re brainstorming strategies for growth. This brings us to the next step:

Read more: KPI Report: What it is & How to Create a Perfect One?

Step 4. Create Strategies

Okay, so now you know everything about the market and your company, so you’re all set to create strategies that you’d be implementing to achieve your goals.

From hiring new sales reps to upgrading your existing product – your strategies can be anything, as long as they help you achieve your goals.

We don’t need to say this, but make sure that your strategies align with your present and future budget. You don’t want to overspend right now and then be short of money when you execute a future strategy.

Step 5. Execute Your Plan

Brace yourselves because it’s time to get the ball rolling and execute the plan. Start implementing all the strategies according to the timeline you’ve set.

However, there’s something that you need to remember: Your plan isn’t a static piece of document. You need to keep modifying and updating it as you go.

Just follow the old saying, ‘ grow through what you go through .’ A strategy isn’t giving the results you expected? Change it. A strategy is working too well? Increase its timeline. A strategy isn’t in trend anymore? Slash it.

Yay! You’ve now learned how to create a solid growth plan.

Now, all that’s left for you to learn is how to create it the right way . See, your growth plan is a VERY essential document. You can’t just type all the strategies out and think that your growth plan is ready.

Your plan needs to have a proper structure and layout. It needs to be easy on the eyes and easy to comprehend. Most of all, it needs to be written after getting inputs from all the departments in your business.

It seems like a tough and long process, doesn’t it? It’s not, because Bit.ai is a platform where you can do all this and more. Want to know more about Bit.ai? Read on!

Read more:   Growth Hacking: What is it & 21 Tools that can Help!

Bit.ai – The Perfect Tool for Creating Growth Plans & Other Business Documents

Yes, that’s the essence of Bit.ai – a document collaboration platform where you can create, organize, share and manage all company documents and other content.

You do not have to worry about formatting or designing your growth plan at all – just pick a template, and put all your strategies in it. Did you know that Bit gives you the option to choose from over 70 templates ?!

This nifty platform lets you and your team collaborate in real-time by co-editing, making inline comments, chatting via document chat, @mentions, and much more.

Want to make your growth plan more robust and comprehensive? Add rich media into it! Bit lets you add excel sheets, social content, cloud files, charts, surveys/polls, code, presentations, and much more to your documents.

One feature that makes Bit stand out is ‘smart workspaces’. On Bit, you can create infinite workspaces around projects and teams. This will help you in keeping all your documents related to your growth plan organized!

Bit.ai makes creating documents as easy as ABC, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t give it a try.

Wrapping Up

There are some things in business you just can’t avoid, and creating a growth plan is one of them. If you don’t want your business to disappear into thin air, you need to create a proper growth plan.

A growth plan literally has the power to take your business to heights, but only if you create it properly and accurately. It’s not even a gigantic task, considering that you have Bit.ai with you.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, start working on your growth plan and skyrocket the growth of your business. We’re totally rooting for you!

Got any questions or suggestions? Feel free to tweet us @bit_docs. We’d get back to you as soon as possible.

Further reads: 

Financial Plan: What is it & How to Create an Impressive One?

13 Growth Marketing Strategies You Must Know About!

Mitigation Plan: What Is It & How To Create One?

12 Sales KPIs Your Sales Department Should Measure!

Go-To-Market Strategy Guide for Businesses!

Communication Plan: What is it & How to Create it? (Steps included)

How To Develop a Growth Mindset That Will Change Your Future?

12 Marketing Goals You Must Include In Your Plan!

Performance Report: What is it & How to Create it? (Steps Included)

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About Bit.ai

Bit.ai is the essential next-gen workplace and document collaboration platform. that helps teams share knowledge by connecting any type of digital content. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, anyone can work visually and collaborate in real-time while creating internal notes, team projects, knowledge bases, client-facing content, and more.

The smartest online Google Docs and Word alternative, Bit.ai is used in over 100 countries by professionals everywhere, from IT teams creating internal documentation and knowledge bases, to sales and marketing teams sharing client materials and client portals.

👉👉Click Here to Check out Bit.ai.

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Top 10 Business Growth Plan Templates with Samples and Examples

Mohammed Sameer

Every organization should have a strategic business growth plan that aligns with the company’s goals. A strategy with attainable and measurable goals can be the difference between success and stagnation.

This is true for most people, from entrepreneurs to athletes. Identifying where you want to go, and the steps you need to take to get there will ensure that your company meets all objectives with ease.

A growth strategy integrates all functional areas of the business to achieve your long-term goals. Every department, from sales and marketing to product development, must contribute to the detailed development of this plan. This collaboration aids in achieving synergy and enables your business to achieve unparalleled efficiencies. 

We've compiled a list of the top 10 Business Growth Plan Templates to ensure that business leaders can reap the benefits.

Business Growth Templates Your Company Needs

Napoleon Hill once said, "Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle." And without a proper plan in place, all your efforts and struggles could be futile. Growth planning is a strategic exercise that allows business owners to schedule and monitor the progress of their revenue. SlideTeam's Business Growth Plan Templates make it easier and faster to create these plans. Let's explore them.

Template 1: Business growth plan PPT Template

Draft an inclusive business growth plan leveraging our content-ready PPT Template. It covers the heart and soul of an effective business growth plan. It emphasizes the importance of revenue streams, SWOT Analysis , PESTEL Analysis, financial plan, and risk control. It’s a resource that is a must-have. Download it now.

Get this template

Template 2: Business Growth And Development Plan

In the deck of all kings , this illustrative template is an Ace of Spades. It is ripe with knowledge and aesthetically-pleasing graphics that make the perfect blend of memorable and impactful presentations. A download of it will ensure you and your team has a concrete business growth plan to work on and take your organization to the heights of success. Get it now.

Download this template

Template 3: Business Growth Planning PPT Framework

Business growth never comes easy. You have to be relentless in your work and diligent in your efforts to give a fair shot to your business to reach success (which is still not guaranteed). SlideTeam has prepared this PowerPoint Presentation to make your life easy. This template helps you frame an effective and workable business growth plan. Get it now.

Grab this template

Template 4: Business Growth Strategy And Revenue Model

Here’s a star PPT Template for preparing a business growth strategy that aligns with your company’s brand and vision. From business growth model and revenue model to go-to-market strategy and marketing strategy, this presentation template has everything that makes a business plan a success. Get it now.

Template 5: Business Growth and Strategy Planning 

Business growth and strategic planning can be daunting tasks to accomplish. With SlideTeam as your PPT Presentation partner, you can rest assured that you never have to worry about anything. We have built this PPT Template on extensive research and analysis to ensure you have the best resource for your business. Grab it now.

Template 6: Two-Stage Business Growth Plan

Here’s a two-stage business growth plan that can help your enterprise break free of the grip of stagnation. Improve your business’ visibility and take steps to move from mere existence to a stage where your key decision-makers have the maturity to offer new products. Use this slide to showcase business growth in two steps and the attractive backdrop to convince clients of your resolve to grow your business. Download it now.

Template 7: Growth-Oriented Business Plan PowerPoint Presentation Slides

This business growth template contains the overview, financial highlights of the company, revenue streams, growth strategies, and much more. Using it, you can easily present the financial highlights covering turnover, net assets, and EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation). You can quickly identify and analyze the company's strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. Showcase PESTLE analysis that examines external and internal business factors affecting your organization's performance.

Template 8: Next Year Annual Business Growth Plan

As 2022 is almost over, it is time to plan for the year ahead. One of the absolute essentials for any business is to have a solid business growth plan. Not sure about how to make the next year’s annual business growth plan? Fret not; SlideTeam is here to help. By downloading this template, you can have all the right resources critical to framing a relevant business growth plan.

Template 9: Key Essential of Business Growth Plan

As a business development manager, building a business growth plan without knowing the key essentials is suicidal. It is also akin to giving directions to a location you have no clue about. Your business will end up stuck in the middle of nowhere. Here’s an exemplary PPT Template that describes the key essentials necessary to draft an effective business growth plan. Grab it now.

Template 10: Strategies for Business Growth PPT Template

Business growth is not an overnight achievement. You need proven strategies to guide your business to success. With a lot already on your plate, you will need assistance in strategizing. SlideTeam acknowledges that constraint and has developed an illustrative PPT Template that describes the strategies for business growth. Grab it now.

Before We Bid Adieu

There is no quick fix or silver bullet that will result in exponential growth.

Indeed, growth is a lengthy process that necessitates a keen focus and understanding of the data and metrics that influence the moving parts of an organization. That is why, in order to truly succeed, you must have a well-thought-out growth strategy (and our business growth plan templates to build one).

FAQs on Business Growth Plan

How do i write a business growth plan.

Steps to Make a Growth-Oriented Business Plan:

• Define your Aim
• Determine your Market(s) and Customers (s)
• Choose your Value Proposition
• Set your Goals and Objectives
• Plan Out your Operations
• Create a well-defined marketing strategy
• Outline your Budget and Forecasting
• Step-wise Execution with Real-time Monitoring

What are the 4 types of business growth strategies?

The following are the four primary growth strategies:

Market Penetration

This strategy aims to increase sales of existing products or services in markets where you are already present, giving you an increased share. You can accomplish this by luring customers away from competitors and ensuring that your existing customers purchase your products or services more frequently. It can be achieved through price reductions, increased promotion and distribution support, acquiring a competitor in the same market, or minor product refinements.

Market Development

It entails expanding existing product or service sales into previously untapped markets. Market expansion entails determining how a company's existing products can be sold in new markets or how to grow the existing market. It can be accomplished through a study of customer segments, such as industrial buyers, for a product that was previously only sold to households. Example: Internet service providers targeted employers for using their product, when it was not so ubiquitous.

Product Development

The goal is to introduce new products or services into existing markets. Product development can be used to expand the offer to current customers to increase ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). These products can be obtained by investing in additional product research and development, acquiring the rights to manufacture someone else's product, purchasing the product, and "branding" it.

Diversification

It entails introducing new products or services into previously untapped markets. Diversification involves higher business risk. It involves the company marketing completely new products and services in a completely unknown market.

What is a growth plan in a business plan?

Business and growth planning are similar. A growth plan primarily focuses on revenue generation or expansion and the actions required to achieve it.

It is a detailed, systematic record of your company's future goals. It outlines your company's goals and objectives and clear strategies and tactics for achieving these.

A growth plan considers the following:

• Your company's current state, including its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
• What do you want your company to be in the future?
• A strategy and timetable for achieving your goals.

What is the 5 Ps strategy?

Mintzberg developed his 5 Ps of Strategy as five distinct definitions of (or approaches to) strategy development. He first discussed the 5 Ps of Strategy in 1987. Each of the 5 Ps represents a distinct approach to strategy. 

• Perspective

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Company Growth Strategy: 7 Key Steps for Business Growth & Expansion

Published: April 17, 2023

A concrete growth strategy is more than a marketing strategy, it's a crucial cog in your business machine. Without one, you're at the mercy of a fickle consumer base and market fluctuations.

So, how do you plan to grow?

If you're unsure about the steps needed to craft an effective growth strategy, we've got you covered.

Business Growth

Business growth is a stage where an organization experiences unprecedented and sustained increases in market reach and profit avenues. This can happen when a company increases revenue, produces more products or services, or expands its customer base.

For the majority of businesses, growth is the main objective. With that in mind, business decisions are often made based on what would contribute to the company’s continued growth and overall success. There are several methods that can facilitate growth which we'll explain more about below.

Free Strategic Planning Template

Access a business strategic planning template to grow your business.

• Sales and Revenue Growth
• Growth of Customer Base
• Expansion into New Regions

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Types of Business Growth

As a business owner, you have several avenues for growth. Business growth can be broken down into the following categories:

With organic growth, a company expands through its own operations utilzing its own internal resources. This is in contrast to having to seek out external resources to facilitate growth.

An example of organic growth is making production more efficient so you can produce more within a shorter time frame, which leads to increased sales. A perk of utilizing organic growth is that it relies on self-sufficiency and avoids taking on debt. Additionally, the increased revenue created from organic growth can help fund more strategic growth methods later on. We’ll explain that below.

2. Strategic

Strategic growth involves developing initiatives that will help your business grow long term. An example of strategic growth could be coming up with a new product or developing a market strategy to target a new audience.

Unlike organic growth, these initiatives often require a significant amount of resources and funding. Businesses often take an organic approach first in hopes that their efforts will generate enough capital to invest in future strategic growth initiatives.

3. Internal

Internal growth strategy seeks to optimize internal business processes to increase revenue. Similar to organic growth, this strategy relies on companies using their own internal resources. Internal growth strategy is all about using existing resources in the most purposeful way possible.

An example of internal growth could be cutting wasteful spending and running a leaner operation by automating some of its functions instead of hiring more employees. Internal growth can be more challenging because it forces companies to look at how their processes can be improved and made more efficient rather than focusing on external factors like entering new markets to facilitate growth.

4. Mergers, Partnerships, Acquisitions

Although riskier than the other growth types, mergers, partnerships, and acquisitions can come with high rewards. There’s strength in numbers and a well-executed merger, partnership, or acquisition can help your business break into a new market, expand your customer base, or increase your products and services on offer.

Business Growth Strategy

A growth strategy is a plan that companies make to expand their business in a specific aspect, such as yearly revenue, number of customers, or number of products. Specific growth strategies can include adding new locations, investing in customer acquisition, or expanding a product line.

A company's industry and target market influence which growth strategies it will choose. Strategize, consider the available options, and build some into your business plan. Depending on the kind of company you're building, your growth strategy might include aspects like:

• Adding new locations
• Investing in customer acquisition
• Franchising opportunities
• Product line expansions
• Selling products online across multiple platforms

Your particular industry and target market will influence your decisions, but it's almost universally true that new customer acquisition will play a sizable role. That said, there are different types of overarching growth strategies you can adopt before making a specific choice, such as adding new locations. Let’s take a look.

Free Growth Strategy Template

Fill out this form to access your template, types of business growth strategies.

There are several general growth strategies that your organization can pursue. Some strategies may work in tandem. For instance, a customer growth and market growth strategy will usually go hand-in-hand.

Revenue Growth Strategy

A revenue growth strategy is an organization’s plan to increase revenue over a time period, such as year-over-year. Businesses pursuing a revenue growth strategy may monitor cash flow , leverage sales forecasting reports , analyze current market trends, diminish customer acquisition costs , and pursue strategic partnerships with other businesses to improve the bottom line.

Specific revenue growth tactics may include:

• Investing in sales training programs to boost close rates
• Leveraging technology to improve sales forecasting reports
• Using lower-cost marketing strategies to lower customer acquisition costs
• Continuing to train customer service reps
• Partnering with another company to promote your products and services

Customer Growth Strategy

A customer growth strategy is an organization’s plan to boost new customer acquisitions over a time period, such as month-over-month. Businesses pursuing a customer growth strategy may be more open to making large strategic investments, as long as the investments lead to greater customer acquisitions.

For this strategy, you may track customer churn rates , calculate customer lifetime value , and leverage pricing strategies to attract more customers. You might also spend more on marketing, sales, and CX , with new customer sign-ups as the north star metric.

Specific customer growth tactics may include:

• Investing in your marketing and sales organization’s headcount
• Increasing advertising and marketing spend
• Opening new locations in a promising market you’ve not yet reached
• Adding new product lines and services
• Adopting a discount or freemium pricing strategy
• Tracking metrics such as churn rates, customer lifetime value, and MRR

Marketing Growth Strategy

A marketing growth strategy — which is related, but not the same as, a market development strategy — is an organization’s plan to increase their total addressable market (TAM) and increase existing market share. Businesses pursuing a marketing growth strategy will research different verticals, customer types, audiences, regions, and more to measure the viability of a market expansion.

Specific marketing growth tactics may include:

• Rebranding the business to appeal to a new audience
• Launching new products to appeal to buyers in a new market
• Opening new locations in other regions
• Adopting a different marketing strategy, e.g local marketing or event marketing , to appeal to new markets
• Becoming a franchisor so that individual business owners can buy franchises from you

Product Growth Strategy

A product growth strategy is an organization’s plan to increase product usage and sign-ups, or expand product lines. This type of growth strategy requires a significant investment into the organization’s product and engineering team (at SaaS organizations). In the retail industry, a product growth strategy may look like partnering with new manufacturers to expand your product catalog.

Specific tactics may include:

• Adding new features and benefits to existing products
• Adopting a freemium pricing strategy
• Adding new products to the existing product line
• Partnering with new manufacturers and providers
• Expanding into new markets and verticals to increase product adoption

Not sure what all of this can look like for your business? Here are some actionable tactics for achieving growth.

How to Grow a Company Successfully

• Use a growth strategy template.
• Choose your targeted area of growth.
• Conduct market and industry research.
• Set growth goals.
• Plan your course of action.
• Determine your growth tools and requirements.
• Execute your plan.

1. Use a growth strategy template [Free Tool] .

Image Source

Don’t hit the ground running without planning out and documenting the steps for your growth strategy. We recommend downloading this free Growth Strategy Template and working off the included section prompts to outline your intended process for growth in your organization.

2. Choose your targeted area of growth.

It’s great that you want to grow your business, but what exactly do you want to grow?

Your business growth plan should hone in on specific areas of growth. Common focuses of strategic growth initiatives might include:

• Growth in employee headcount
• Expansion of current office, retail, and/or warehouse space
• Addition of new locations or branches of your business
• Expansion into new regions, locations, cities, or countries
• Addition of new products and/or services
• Expanding purchase locations (i.e. selling in new stores or launching an online store)
• Growth in revenue and/or profit
• Growth of customer base and/or customer acquisition rate

It’s possible that your growth plan will encompass more than one of the initiatives outlined above, which makes sense — the best growth doesn't happen in a vacuum. For example, growing your unit sales will result in growth in revenue — and possibly additional locations and headcount to support the increased sales.

3. Conduct market and industry research.

After you’ve chosen what you want to grow, you’ll need to justify why you want to grow in this area (and if growth is even possible).

Researching the state of your industry is the best way to determine if your desired growth is both necessary and feasible. Examples could include running surveys and focus groups with existing and potential customers or digging into existing industry research.

The knowledge and facts you uncover in this step will shape the expectations and growth goals for this project to better determine a timeline, budget, and ultimate goal. This brings us to step four…

4. Set growth goals.

Once you’ve determined what you’re growing and why you’re growing, the next step is to determine how much you’ll be growing.

These goals should be based on your endgame aspirations of where you ideally want your organization to be, but they should also be achievable and realistic – which is why setting a goal based on industry research is so valuable.

Lastly, take the steps to quantify your goals in terms of metrics and timeline. Aiming to "grow sales by 30% quarter-over-quarter for the next three years" is much clearer than "increasing sales."

5. Plan your course of action.

Next, outline how you’ll achieve your growth goals with a detailed growth strategy. Again – we suggest writing out a detailed growth strategy plan to gain the understanding and buy-in of your team.

Download this Template

This action plan should contain a list of action items, deadlines, teams or persons responsible, and resources for attaining your growth goal.

6. Determine your growth tools and requirements.

The last step before acting on your plan is determining any requirements your team will need through the process. These are specific resources that will help you meet your growth goals faster and with more accuracy. Examples might include:

• Funding: Organizations may need a capital investment or an internal budget allocation to see this project through.
• Tools & Software: Consider what technological resources may be needed to expedite and/or gain insights from the growth process.
• Services: Growth may be better achieved with the help of consultants, designers, or planners in a specific field.

7. Execute your plan.

With all of your planning, resourcing, and goal-setting complete, you’re now ready to execute your company growth plan and deliver results for the business.

Throughout this time, make sure you’re holding your stakeholders accountable, keeping the line of communication open, and comparing initial results to your forecasted growth goals to see if your projected results are still achievable or if anything needs to be adjusted.

Your growth plan and the tactics you leverage will ultimately be specific to your business, but there are some universal strategies you can implement when getting started.

To expand a business and its revenue, companies can implement different strategies for growth. Examples of growth strategy include:

Growth Strategy Examples

• Viral Loops
• Milestone Referrals
• Word-of-Mouth
• The 'When They Zig, We Zag' Approach
• In-Person Outreach
• Market Penetration
• Market Development
• Product Development
• Growth Alliances
• Acquisitions
• Organic Growth
• Social Media
• Excellent Customer Service

1. Viral Loops

Some growth strategies are tailored to be completely self-sustainable. They require an initial push, but ultimately, they rely primarily (if not solely) on users' enthusiasm to keep them going. One strategy that fits that bill is the viral loop.

The basic premise of a viral loop is straightforward:

• Someone tries your product.
• They're offered a valuable incentive to share it with others.
• They accept and share with their network.
• New users sign up, see the incentive for themselves, and share with their networks.

For instance, a cloud storage company trying to get off the ground might offer users an additional 500 MB for each referral.

Ideally, your incentive will be compelling enough for users to actively and enthusiastically encourage their friends and family to get on board. At its best, a viral loop is a self-perpetuating acquisition machine that operates 24/7/365.

That said, viral loops are not guaranteed to go viral, and they’ve become less effective as they’ve become more commonplace. But the potential is still there.

Part of the appeal is that the viral loop flips the traditional funnel upside-down:

Instead of needing as many leads as possible at the top, a viral loop funnel requires just one satisfied user to share with others. As long as every referral results in at least 1.1 new users, the system continues growing.

2. Milestone Referrals

The milestone referral model is similar to the viral loop in that it relies on incentives to kickstart and sustain it. But milestone referrals add a more intricate, progressive element to the process.

Companies that leverage viral loops generally offer a flat, consistent offer for individual referrals — businesses that use milestone referrals offer rewards for hitting specific benchmarks. In many cases, "milestones" are metrics like the number of referred friends.

For example, a business might include different or increasingly enticing incentives that come with one, five, and 10 referrals as opposed to a fixed incentive for each referral. A company will often leverage this strategy to encourage users to bring on a volume of friends and family that suits its specific business goals.

The strategy also adds an engaging element to the referral process. When done right, milestone referrals are simple to share with relatively straightforward objectives and enticing, tangible products as rewards.

3. Word-of-Mouth

Word-of-mouth is organic and effective. Recommendations from friends and family are some of the most powerful incentives for consumers to purchase or try a product or service.

The secret of word-of-mouth’s effectiveness lies in a deeply rooted psychological bias all people have — we subconsciously believe the majority knows better.

Social proof is central to most successful sales copywriting and broader content marketing efforts. That's why businesses draw so much attention to their online reputations.

They know in today's customer-driven world — one where communication methods change and information is available to all — a single negative blog post or tweet can compromise an entire marketing effort.

Pete Blackshaw , the father of digital word-of-mouth growth, says, "satisfied customers tell three friends; angry customers tell 3,000."

The key with word-of-mouth is to focus on a positive user experience. You need to grow a base of satisfied customers and sustain the wave of loyal feedback that comes with it.

With this method, you have to focus on delivering a spectacular user experience, and users will spread the word for you.

4. The "When They Zig, We Zag" Approach

Sometimes the best growth strategy a company can employ is standing out — offering a unique experience that sets it apart from other businesses in its space. When monotony defines an industry, the company that breaks it often finds an edge.

Say your company developed an app for transitioning playlists between music streaming apps. Assume you have a few competitors who all generate revenue through ads and paid subscriptions — both of which frustrate users.

In that case, you might be best off trying to shed some of the baggage that customers run into trouble with when using your competitors' programs. If your service is paid, you could consider offering a free trial of an ad-free experience — right off the bat.

The point here is that there's often a lot of value and opportunity in differentiating yourself. If you can "zig when they zag", you can capture consumers' attention and capitalize on their shifting interests.

5. In-Person Outreach

It might be a while before this particular approach can be employed again, but it's effective enough to warrant a mention. Sometimes, adding a human element to your growth strategy can help set things in motion for your business.

Prospects are often receptive to a personal approach — and there's nothing more personal than immediate, face-to-face interactions. Putting boots on the ground and personally interfacing with potential customers can be a great way to get your business the traction it needs to get going.

This could mean hosting or sponsoring events, attending conferences relevant to your space, hiring brand ambassadors, or any other way to directly and strategically reach out to your target demographic in person.

6. Market Penetration

Competition is a necessary part of business. Imagine that two companies in the same industry are targeting the same consumers. Typically, whatever customers Business A has, Business B does not. Market penetration is a strategy that builds off of this tug-of-war.

Market penetration increases the market share — the percentage of total sales in an industry generated by a company — of a product within a given industry. Coca-Cola, the most popular carbonated beverage in the United States, has a 42.8% market share. If competitors like Pepsi and Sprite were looking to increase market penetration, they would need to increase market share. This increase would imply that they are acquiring customers that were previously buying Coca-Cola or other carbonated beverage brands.

While lowering prices and advertising are two costly yet effective tactics to increase market share, they are part of a series of methods businesses can use for overall sales and customer retention.

7. Development

If a company feels as if they have plateaued and its current market no longer has room for growth, it might switch strategies from market penetration to market development. While market penetration focuses on a company and its current market, market development strategies lead businesses to tap into a new one.

Companies can decide to manufacture new products or find an innovative use for their project. Take Uber. Although few would say that the rideshare company has plateaued, six years after its launch in 2009, Uber launched UberEats, its online food ordering, and delivery platform. The company already had drivers set to take passengers to their destinations. Uber expanded their idea and has become one of the biggest names in the food delivery industry.

8. Product Development

For growth, many businesses need to introduce something new. Product development — the creation of a new product or the enhancement of an existing one — allows companies to attract new customers and retain existing ones.

Online fast-fashion retailers are an example of this. A company like ASOS built its brand off of clothing. To appeal to a bigger customer base, it has since added face and body products, a collection made up of ASOS products and other popular brands. If an interested customer prefers to shop for their clothes, makeup, and skincare products at once, the brand now serves as a big draw.

9. Growth Alliances

Growth alliances are strategic collaborations between companies. They further the growth goals of the involved parties. Take JCPenney and Sephora. For Sephora, it can’t hurt for the makeup retailer to have more stores across the country. JCPenney, however, needed to keep up with powerhouses like Macy’s and its fully-fledged makeup section.

In 2006, Sephora began opening stores inside JCPenney. As of 2022, Sephora Inside JCPenney is now in over 574 stores. Simultaneously, JCPenney now carries a selection of makeup to rival competitors.

10. Acquisitions

Companies can use an acquisition strategy to promote growth. By acquiring other businesses, companies expand their operations through creating new products or expanding into a new industry. One of the more obvious ideas for growth, this strategy offers significant benefits to companies. They allow for faster growth, access to more customers, lower business risk, and more.

Founded in 1837, Procter & Gamble is a consumer goods company known for its acquisitions. It initially started in soaps and candles but currently has 65 acquired companies that have allowed it to expand into different markets. The list includes Pampers, Tide, Bounty, Tampax, Old Spice, and more. Although its sales dipped between 2016-2019, Procter & Gamble’s net sales for 2021 were $76 billion, its best year within the last decade.

11. Organic Growth

As mentioned previously, organic growth is the most ideal business growth strategy. It could look like focusing on SEO, developing engaging content, or prioritizing advertisements. Instead of focusing on external growth, organic growth is a sustainable strategy that promotes long-term success.

12. Leverage Social Media

Having a strong social media presence can be invaluable to marketing and business growth. Be sure to establish brand pages on all social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter, etc. Social media can help you increase engagement with your target audience and make it easier for potential customers to find your brand. It’s also great for word-of-mouth promotion as existing customers will likely share your content with their network.

13. Provide Excellent Customer Service

It can be tempting to focus on acquiring new customers, but maintaining loyalty with your existing customers is just as important. Providing an excellent customer service experience ensures that you’ll continue to keep the customers you have, and there’s a good chance you’ll reap some referrals too.

The Key to Growing Your Business

Controlled, sustainable growth is the key to successful businesses. Industries are constantly changing, and it is the responsibility of companies to adapt to these changes.

Successful companies plan for growth. They work for it. They earn it. So what's your plan?

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Plan your business's growth strategy with this free template.

8 Growth Strategies for the Modern Business Landscape

Nov 3, 2023 | Read time: 10 min.

RJ Licata , Sr. Director of Marketing

• A growth strategy is an action plan for a business to increase sales, revenue, or customers.
• Choose business growth strategies that align with your budget, goals, timelines, competition, and desired market share.
• The most effective growth strategies align with brand positioning, possess deep audience insight, and are diversified to reduce risk and maximize market share expansion.

Contents Jump to

In a business landscape where consumer preferences and behavior are constantly changing alongside technology, the significance of a growth strategy cannot be overstated. 

It’s the blueprint for success, the guiding force that propels businesses forward, and the key to thriving in a fiercely competitive market.

In this article, we’ll define what growth strategy means, discuss different types of strategies, and how to build one. We’ll also explore the transformative power an integrated approach holds in the pursuit of business excellence.

Why growth strategy matters

Put simply, a growth strategy is a well-defined plan or set of tactics for achieving expansion and increased success. It outlines how a business intends to grow in terms of revenue, market share, customer base, or geographical locations. 

MARKETING TERM DEFINITION Growth Strategy A well-defined plan or set of tactics for achieving expansion and increased success

Growth strategies encompass various approaches, such as market penetration, product development, market development, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and more, depending on the specific goals and circumstances of the business. These strategies are critical for a company’s long-term viability and competitiveness.

To remain relevant and adaptive, large brands must continuously seek new avenues for growth, innovation, and market expansion. A robust growth strategy enables businesses to navigate these changes effectively.

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Types of business growth strategies

At a high level, there is organic business growth and inorganic. Organic growth means expanding naturally through internal efforts, like increasing sales, launching new products, or entering new markets, without relying on mergers or acquisitions. 

It’s self-driven growth from within the company, and it’s considered more stable and sustainable than inorganic growth that happens through external means.

The four most common and well-known growth strategies align with the Ansoff-Matrix: market penetration, product development, market development, and diversification. But with the expanding digital landscape and changes in consumer behavior , brands have more opportunities to diversify their approach, grow their footprint, and get in front of customers in more impactful ways. 

Here’s a closer look at 8 different types.

1. Market development (expansion)

Market development, or market expansion, is a growth strategy where you sell existing products to new, untapped markets. This strategy helps you broaden your market share beyond your current customer base. 

It might involve targeting different industries, demographics, corporate departments, or geographic areas. Successful companies often find the most profitable growth by expanding into adjacent markets. 

Uber’s global expansion is a prime example. They started in the United States and expanded internationally, adapting their services to local needs and regulations. This move extended their customer base and global presence, contributing to their significant growth as a transportation platform. 

To succeed in a new market, it’s essential to understand the entire competitive landscape, including non-direct competitors and key decision-makers.

2. Market penetration

Market penetration, on the other hand, aims to increase a company’s market share and sales within an existing market or customer base. This strategy typically involves selling more of the company’s existing products or services to its current customers or targeting similar customers who have not yet used the company’s offerings.

Amazon’s expansion of its Amazon Prime service is one example of market penetration. Amazon already had a large customer base, but they wanted to increase customer loyalty and sales within that existing customer pool.

Amazon introduced various enhancements to its Prime service, including faster delivery options, expanded streaming content, and exclusive deals. These options aimed to attract new customers while also encouraging current Prime members to use the service more frequently.

As a result, Amazon increased its market penetration by making the Prime service more attractive to a broader range of consumers.

Interested in assessing your current market position or exploring a new one? See where you stand today .

3. Market disruption

Market disruption involves entering a well-established industry that is usually dominated by a few legacy brands and proceeding to do things completely differently than everyone else. There are many ways you can potentially disrupt a market, including:

• Using a completely different business model, as many direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands have done.
• Utilizing innovations, such as when Salesforce offered a cloud-based CRM.
• Offering significantly cheaper or better quality products.
• Providing something new, such as Slack replacing traditional email.

Think of how Dollar Shave Club disrupted the male razor market with a DTC model. In a sign of capitulation, Unilever acquired them roughly five years later for $1 billion.

4. Product expansion or diversification

Developing new products or adding new features to existing ones can be a highly effective business growth strategy. Product development opens your brand up to new audiences who weren’t interested in your brand before.

Semrush is an example of a company that started with a rudimentary SEO and paid search platform.

The company launched new features over the years, and it’s now a comprehensive software suite. Although the target audience never changed, new functionalities appealed to a wider segment of that audience.

This business growth strategy worked well for Semrush which has a current market capitalization of more than $2.7 billion.

5. Owned asset optimization

Owned asset optimization (OAO) is an emerging approach to growth strategy that aims to harmonize a company’s various brand and marketing efforts around common business goals.

In OAO, a brand’s content and other marketing materials are viewed as business assets with potentially untapped value. These assets are then optimized and strategically leveraged to build brand equity and generate consistent, predictable revenue streams.

This approach creates a synergistic relationship between branding and revenue generation , ensuring that marketing efforts not only drive engagement but also contribute directly to the bottom line.

Owned Asset Optimization (OAO) | The Foundational Guide

6. new channels.

New distribution channels rank among the top 10 business strategies for growth because they propel revenue growth without any product changes. Ecommerce businesses like Allbirds have increased revenue by also growing their brick-and-mortar presence. Whereas Allbirds was exclusively online in the beginning, they currently boast 29 real-world stores.

Sometimes, one company’s identification of a new distribution channel can trigger a tsunami of change throughout the industry. Take Salesforce. They introduced the idea of cloud-based, subscription software in an industry dominated by large, expensive, complex enterprise software requiring an army of professional service reps to get it to work.

Salesforce went on to grow rapidly, and today it’s a $21 billion+ entity. The software industry transformed, and today is filled with other SaaS offerings.

7. Strategic partnerships

Strategic partnerships with other brands can generate growth that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. For example, if you partner with a company that offers a product or service that complements yours, you get access to their audience, and vice-versa. You also receive referrals from your strategic partner and benefit from the goodwill built up around their brand.

An example of a strategic partnership that worked well is the one between Lyft and Taco Bell. Lyft offered Taco Bell delivery service to its customers, in which a Lyft passenger could request a mid-trip stop at a local Taco Bell (“Taco Mode”) with a simple tap within the Lyft app. The partnership led to free publicity for both companies and an increase in sales for Taco Bell.

Strategic partnerships can also focus on an improved or unique product. Once again, looking at Taco Bell, a partnership with Doritos resulted in the creation of the Doritos Locos Taco. To say it was a massive hit is an understatement. Within the first 18 months of the new product launch, Doritos Locos Taco sales surpassed $1 billion.

8. Acquisitions

Acquisitions are one of the most straightforward and effective paths to business growth. They typically become a viable strategy for companies with substantial cash flow and debt capacity at their disposal.

Acquisitions offer a range of advantages. They enable businesses to:

• Reduce competition by acquiring direct competitors.
• Gain access to proprietary technology that would be time-consuming and costly to develop in-house.
• Tap into the customer base of the acquired company.

A prominent example of successful business growth through acquisitions is Salesforce. In 2020, Salesforce acquired Slack Technologies, a prominent business communication platform. This acquisition allowed Salesforce to diversify its services beyond customer relationship management (CRM) into workplace collaboration and communication. 

The goal was to create an integrated platform for businesses and merge customer data with communication tools. This underscored the trend of companies broadening their service offerings through strategic acquisitions to provide more comprehensive solutions to their customers.

How to build a successful growth strategy

So, how do you execute a successful business growth strategy? A comprehensive growth strategy encompasses all aspects of your brand, including digital marketing, brand identity, positioning, and customer experience. Here are the key steps that ensure your growth strategy is set up for success.

Know your brand

First and foremost, you need a clear understanding of your brand identity and strengths. Identify your core competencies, positioning, and differentiation. Consider Walmart, for instance, which achieved remarkable growth by delivering the lowest prices for its customers.

Conduct market and audience research

No matter which growth strategies you implement, start with market research. Research gives you insight into your current customers as well as potential new business from untapped markets. This step reveals trends, growth opportunities, and potential barriers to entry that could limit your success in a new market.

Audience research helps you tap into new areas of your current market, as well as new audience segments that could benefit from your offerings. You’ll uncover valuable insights about buying behavior and product preferences in addition to the channels they use most frequently along their journey .

Competitive research highlights your positioning relative to competitors in your current market. It also identifies market share leaders in new areas so you can assess their vulnerabilities and capitalize on opportunities.

Establish goals

Once you have a clear understanding of your current market as well as where you want to grow (new markets or existing markets), you can then establish specific growth goals. Goals are key to any growth strategy because they drive the actions that lead to success.

All growth goals should be measurable, and quantitative goals should be time-bound with deadlines.

By establishing clear goals, you can measure your success and optimize your activities over time. You can adjust your strategy as necessary to ensure the achievement of your growth objectives.

Determine your growth strategy

After you set growth goals, decide which growth strategy you’ll implement to acquire new customers and achieve your goals.

Will you target organic growth, or use an acquisition strategy? Alternatively, you might combine several strategies to achieve your goals. It’s more complex to implement multiple business growth strategies, but it’s certainly a method to maximize your results.

The strategy or strategies you choose will depend on a variety of factors, including your budget, goals, opportunities, competition, timelines, and calculated market share targets.

Create your implementation plan

Your execution plan contains the nitty-gritty details of your growth strategy. It’s the concrete actions you’re going to take to make your growth strategy a reality. For example, if you’re going to use acquisitions as a growth strategy, define the specific gaps you’re aiming to fill or the new audience segments you’re trying to capture.

Don’t be vague with your execution plan. Spell out all the details of your growth strategy so that you and your team members know what needs to be executed, when it needs to be done, and how it will be achieved.

All of this planning creates accountability and helps ensure that you hit your intended growth goals more reliably.

Measure results and optimize for what works

Once you have established your growth strategy and have started executing it, regularly measure the key metrics that indicate your performance. The metrics you choose should be closely tied to your overall growth goals, not vanity metrics with no real-world bearing on actual results.

The more you monitor and measure your growth efforts, the more you’ll begin to see which parts of your execution plan are producing results and which aren’t. If something is working particularly well, double down on it. If a particular tactic isn’t effective, don’t be afraid to pivot.

Continually optimize the activities of your business growth strategies, and you’re bound to come out ahead in the end.

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The power of an integrated approach to growth

Even though you’re making serious investments with any business growth strategy, there needs to be elements of flexibility in your approach. The power of an integrated growth strategy in the modern business landscape lies in its ability to harness the collective strength and flexibility of diverse approaches to drive sustainable success.

By combining market development, disruption, diversification, channel expansion, strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and emerging approaches like OAO, businesses can adapt to changing landscapes, and seize opportunities while mitigating risks.

This synergy fosters a holistic, future-focused approach that propels companies toward expansion. The most resilient, legacy-building brands are those that weave these strategies into a dynamic program, creating a roadmap for sustained growth.

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