A Roadmap for Growth

When we look at growth and planning/budgeting for growth there are a few levers we have at our disposal. Expenses and Revenue = Profits. Looking at each of these through its own lens will tell us which lever we need to pull to make profits increase. Each lever has consequences, managing those consequences will produce profits or loss. Profit is the name of the game if we want to win. Growth comes as an expense sales comes as revenue.

We find entrepreneurs primary goal is to grow their enterprise, they think by generating more sales they increase revenue. But focusing on selling more just to increase the top line many times overlooks the necessity of the cost related to delivering on the sale to truly scale the business.

In order to scale, we must first have a strong foundation to the business processes. Process that includes deliberate planning, thoughtful assessments of key people and targeted allocation of investment capital.

A first step is asking a series of fundamental questions: Why grow the business? For what purpose? The answer should not be “just to make more money.” One example of the need for growth are companies in the business to business (B2B) space. In this example, large corporate customers are more likely to select vendors that have the scale and financial wherewithal to meet their considerable demands. So being clear about the reasons and purpose for growth will help with the steps that follow.

What does a growth roadmap look like? Specifically, a well developed Roadmap needs to be put in place that communicates the reasons for growing the business over a certain period of time. The roadmap involves three year focus areas, one year key initiatives and 90 day action items identifying the key functions of the business that will serve as the catalysts for growth. Once identified, the business owner needs to consider whether the people currently in these functions are the right ones. An assessment of their talents, as discussed in StrengthFinders, and skills will reveal whether training is needed or if new people need to be hired. These are strategic positions responsible for scaling the business. So active participation of the business owner in this endeavor is critical.

There is a saying “it takes money to make money” It also takes time! is where our customers can be the our biggest assets to growth. Our investment in our company is time and money. Time to develop the foundation, the processes, the people, to support the delivery of new sales. For every dollar put into the company we should be able to turn that into more money within a given time structure. This is where the concept of time/money or ROI (return on investment) comes from. A growth budget is essential for specifying the areas allocated for investment of talent and for tracking the growth and return on investment.

Scaling an enterprise is a team sport in which the right people with the right skills are in the right seats to realize the operational and financial goals. There are successful habits that companies have proven to work for successful scaling to occur is clear priorities, meeting rhythms, and repeatable metrics.

Categories: Strategy & Planning