Almost 90% of board directors say that their businesses embed digital solutions in their future growth plans. Forward-thinking companies like these often have a growth strategy framework they can rely on. Though, would you know how to build one if you wanted to plan for the future of your business?
Below, we investigate the steps you need to take to understand and develop a company growth strategy to stand the test of time. By the end, you should have all the tools you need to expand your business while being aware of and preparing for potential risks.
Analyse Your Current State
Before you go on a journey, you must know where you already are so you do not get lost along the way. As such, before creating a strategic framework for growth, you need to understand your current state. By having this, you can make informed business expansion decisions instead of relying on guesswork.
One of the first things you can do is build a SWOT analysis. This will help you identify the following aspects of your business:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
You should also have all the information on your financial performance it is possible to have. This way, you can track patterns in your business and estimate how much budget you can put aside for business growth.
At the same time, ensure you perform market research. You need to know your current position compared to the competition and how much space there is for you to expand. You should plan ahead as you grow, and understand where you will meet plateaus of customer engagement as this will have a similar impact on income.
Define Your Future Growth Objectives
With all the above information in hand, think about your current business vision. How does growth fit into that and can you ensure you sustain it while holding to your tenets?
If you think growth is achievable, you can think about setting SMART goals for your business. This means they need to be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
By having SMART goals, it is much easier for you to work out if you are tracking toward the change you expect. If not, it allows you to set future objectives and pivot to improve your potential to meet future ambitions.
Choose Your Growth Methods
You need to work out where you plan to find new talent from. With the growth of remote working in the world, you might have more options than ever.
In-House or Remote
Consider whether you are open to your workers performing their roles from outside of the office. Doing this will allow you to offer a lower salary in some cases, as they may live in a location with a low cost of living and will not need to commute.
EOR or PEO Services
Consider working with an Employer of Record (EOR) or Professional Employer Organization (PEO).
An EOR will take a lot of the Human Resources work off of your hands, and allow you to scale much easier. At the same time, a PEO can consult with you about the demands of companies outside of your local area. Together, they can bring in talent from many places across the world, especially if they exist in a single company.
Crafting the Framework
You next need to develop the framework itself using everything you have learned above. The following will comprise a large portion of what you need to put in there.
Create a Timeline
Break down your planned expansion into specific date-based milestones. Ensure these periods are realistic and allow for a small amount of buffer time. This gives you the ability to perform any learning you need to at various points.
You should also ensure you have time to take into account additional steps that will lead to friction-free growth. These might include:
- Market research
- Legal preparations
- Team-building with new workers
- Logistical requirements
Develop a Resource Allocation Plan
As you grow, you need to ensure you have planned for specific resources to be in the hands of people as soon as they join your organization. This might include technology, hardware, people, or even financial resources.
You can then plan for these to be in the right place at the right time to prevent bottlenecks.
Address Any Regulatory Demands
Research the local laws related to any new hires you bring on. Locations outside of the U.S., and even many U.S. states, have unique demands they place on a company. If you hire remote workers, these laws and regulations might affect you, and not accounting for them may leave you open to litigation or fines.
Another option for you is to work with a PEO, who will have a much better handle on these from the outset.
Risk Management
Another aspect of growth is understanding where things might go wrong. You need to have ways to mitigate the most common problems that might occur.
Identify Potential Issues
Working with your different departments, find places where challenges are likely to come up during growth. These problems might be:
- Operational
- Financial
- Legal
- Reputational
- Logistical
This list is not exhaustive, so make sure the feedback you get from your team allows you to make comprehensive mitigation plans.
Document Reaction Plans
When you have put together reactions to any risks that might crop up, ensure you document what they are. This allows people to refer to such references moving forward and work independently to keep the company safe.
You must make sure you assign responsibility for each possible problem and make sure that is communicated to the whole team. You should also update this if the person moves on to a different position.
Implementing a Growth Strategy Framework
By following the above steps, a growth strategy framework will go from a broad idea you can reference to a true set of objectives moving forward. One of the most-effective ways you can tap into growth, though, is to open up to the potential of global talent. We can offer you plenty of help in this regard.
Our PEO specialists are experts in finding you the people who would best serve you as you continue to expand your business. So, give us a call and find out what we can do to secure your organization’s place on the map today.
