How Small Business Owners Can Implement Business Growth Strategies

Business growth is not so much about striking the right marketing medium, but more about getting the right tools and executing an intelligent strategy. Trending brands control their own buzz on demand and force business growth through better business strategy.

Business growth is perhaps the most elusive and simultaneously epically important factor out there today. As a small business you need it if you want to attract investor funding, make the Inc. 500 list, or even just to prevent stagnation and becoming another irrelevant ‘could have been’. And even the largest tech giants on the planet today are shelling out billions to acquire smaller businesses that can bring them growth.

Start by figuring out how to outwit your competition by finding holes in the market. Ask questions like: What is the competition missing, what aren’t customers getting, what do customers want, how can current offerings be improved? Even simple tweaks on common products can be developed into incredibly successful brands which enjoy massive business growth fast, even in the most competitive industries.

Some angles that can give new startups an edge include looking at packaging, where it’s sold, who it’s sold to, how new colors or designs can change demand and the premium demanded. What story and emotion can be weaved into the brand to create viral products and an incredibly rapidly growing loyal fan base?

So how do you get the answers to these questions apart from simply relying on hunches?

Consider playing mystery shopper at the competition. Hire others to do the same whom may catch something you completely overlooked. Monitor performance on follow up times, staff quality, ability to back up value, etc. Or turn to focus groups, or better yet, the modern day version – social media.

Don’t forget the obvious danger here though. That is only creating a product your immediate five closest friends are interested in, or too kind to tell you is terrible. Or mistaking “it’s nice” for meaning people will actually fork out real money for it at any price. We all see nice things we never order because even if there isn’t a competitor there isn’t enough motivation, or pain or pleasure attached to having it, or not.

You might even crowdsource brand names, designs, slogans, etc. to give others more ‘ownership’, loyalty and generate word of mouth advertising. You could even run a contest and have them call in to vote via your toll free number.

Who are going to be the best brand ambassadors for you, and influence others? Do you need a celebrity early adopter, or perhaps a few online influencers that hold sway in this niche? Or is there an existing franchise that could carry the banner for you? Now that you’ve got a winner of a product – it’s all about promoting it right. This isn’t always blowing your entire budget on launch. There should be plenty of strategy here…

How can you pull together guerilla marketing, social contests, press, catchy vanity numbers, and online mentions to build momentum behind business growth and make it snowball for increasing results and better ROI?