Under the influence of Investment Funds, external growth is often presented as the alpha and omega of growth, underestimating the difficulties operational and cultural of these operations. However, in more than 90% of cases, the company has the strengths within it to develop, but by dint of having the head in the handlebars, the company manager can no longer see them.
Structure to grow: three projects to follow
1– Know where we are going
After having made an inventory of strengths and weaknesses of the company, it is essential to build a three-year roadmap. It will serve to focus everyone’s efforts on the priorities, by quantifying the needs of each site and stage. It is only by defining a clear horizon and ambitious initiatives that the business manager will motivate his teams and overcome the conservatisms inherent in any organization.
2 – Have the courage to question the way you operate
In most cases, this requires being accompanied to gain the necessary height and accept to question your habits.
3 – Identify and track down the really unnecessary costs
If the first duty of an entrepreneur is to work constantly to ensure the long-term sustainability of his business (even if this leads him to make difficult decisions), there is very often much better to do than focus only on the cost reduction by atrophying the muscles of its organization and its intrinsic potential for growth.
Implement the planned organic growth plan: three key points
Among the subjects which can be implemented within the framework of the three-year plan, three are particularly important – yet they are evaded by a majority of SMEs.
4– Data
Their wealth is often underestimated by SMEs even though they have become a essential asset for companies. It is essential today to know what data is available, how treat effectively, where and how stocker. You also have to waste as little time as possible on unnecessary or low value-added information.
It is an essential stake in the structuring of its organization and there are today accessible digital instruments, in particular with the exponential growth of no-code (no-code is a buzzword for implementing marketing strategies, processes and actions without the help of technical coding skills). These tools make it possible to increase the efficiency of one’s organization and make life easier for employees.
5– The offer, sales organization and marketing
This may consist of changing the model of segmentation of product ranges, to integrate from new services to launch new products, to review the approaches and arguments marketing / customers, to set up more focused sales teams (for example, for international), etc.
6– Support for the team
It is essential that everyone adheres to the growth project and that everyone finds their benefit by finding meaning in it. For this, the business manager must both involve his employees by co-constructing the roadmap with them and trust them in the implementation of the action plan. He must also organize regular updates on the stages with them, or even consider a formation.
Every business hides untapped resources for its development. Let us not ignore them any more and let us know how to mobilize them to seize opportunities and boost the growth of SMEs.
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