The Growth Collective, delivered as part of the Wiltshire Fit for Growth programme, is designed to help businesses stay ahead in an ever-evolving market. Through a series of free workshops and webinars, we focus on driving success by embracing planned innovation and leveraging the latest in digital technology. Our goal is to empower Wiltshire business owners and managers to enhance their competitiveness, whether by streamlining operations or boosting growth through digital transformation. By staying ahead of the curve, your business can thrive and remain agile, even in challenging times.
One of the first steps in understanding your growth potential is answering a simple question: Where are we right now? A great tool for this is the PESTEL framework. By collectively reviewing your business environment, ideally with the guidance of a non-executive director or an external facilitator, you can take a 360-degree view of key factors affecting your business.
Consider these crucial areas:
Political: How do your products and services align with current political trends, such as sustainability, carbon footprints, and long-term viability?
Economic: Is your offering sustainable for your customers’ spending power? Are rising costs affecting their buying decisions?
Social: Does your business need certifications like B Corp status to remain relevant?
Technological: Are you leveraging automation, cloud-based systems, and data capture to stay competitive?
Environmental: Will environmental shifts allow you to continue producing your products in the same way?
Legal: Even if your product is feasible, will upcoming legislation allow you to continue making or selling it?
Once you've assessed your position, the next step is growth. But where will that growth come from?
The Ansoff Matrix offers a straightforward model to explore potential growth strategies. Let’s dive into its four approaches:
Box 1: Market Penetration (Selling More to Existing Customers)
How can you encourage your current customers to buy more frequently or in larger quantities? Is it a matter of increasing brand awareness through advertising, or could promotions increase purchase volume? Sometimes, innovations like packaging (e.g. a sports cap on a bottle for easier usage) can drive new usage occasions. Strategies like loyalty programs or “refer a friend” incentives also help deepen customer relationships and boost sales.
Box 2: Market Development (Selling Existing Products to New Markets)
Where can you find new customers similar to the ones you already have? Perhaps expanding into a new geographic area via additional wholesalers, or tapping into new channels like E-commerce, could unlock untapped demand. It’s essential to avoid cannibalising your current customer base, but a well-executed strategy can bring in incremental sales.
Box 3: New Product Development (New Products for Existing Markets)
Is there a way to extend your product line or repackage what you already offer? Consider repositioning existing products for different uses—could a breakfast cereal also serve as a dessert with minor branding changes? Alternatively, assess your production capabilities—could you develop new products that fit within your current operations, but serve a different customer need?
Box 4: Diversification (New Products for New Markets)
Does your brand have the credibility to enter entirely new markets with new products? This path involves higher risk, but the potential rewards can be significant if your brand is trusted and adaptable.
As part of the free The Growth Collective programme we will be exploring these strategies and more, helping you unlock growth potential in a structured, insightful way.
Find out more here.
Register now to join The Growth Collective and delve deeper into these models and discover what’s next for your business.