Every business that grows its market share or expands into new territory utilizes a proven formula to pull it off. To substantially boost the chances of success for your new company, you should explore practical startup assistance and business growth strategies that have worked before.
Here’s a look at some proven growth strategies for small businesses:
- Market Development
Market development involves taking your existing product to an untapped market. The strategy allows you to sell to new customers that are an ideal fit for your already developed product line. With this approach, you can target suitable segments for expansion, such as a new industry, demographic, or corporate department. Also, you can extend your market share into a new geographical area.
- Disruption
To successfully deploy the disruption strategy, you may need to introduce a game-changing idea in a market or industry dominated by a handful of legacy brands. You can differentiate your company or brand in the market in ways such as:
- Shifting to a direct-to-consumer distribution model
- Innovating, such as disrupting on-premises software with a new cloud-based marketing tool
- Providing better quality, cheaper products
- Diversifying or Expanding Offerings
You can also grow your small business by developing new products or upgrading your existing offerings with new functionality. This strategy allows you to attract new product users who previously may not have had an interest in your offering. Many software companies grow this way, starting with a few basic features and gradually adding new components or tools.
- New Distribution Channels
New distribution channels are among the most popular and practical startup assistance and business growth ideas. Once you’ve identified a new or more efficient route to deliver solutions to your customers, you can quickly leverage it without costly product upgrades. Revenue growth comes from the new customers you couldn’t reach with your older channels or the costs you cut by utilizing an efficient distribution route. A good example of this is adding brick-and-mortar outlets to an online-based business and vice versa.
- Strategic Partnerships
You can grow your brand by partnering with another, offering a complementary product or service that would interest your audience. Such partnership exposes your brand to its target audience and vice-versa. This is similar to what Lyft, a ride-hailing service, did by teaming up with Taco Bell, a fast-food restaurant chain.
- Strategic Acquisitions
You don’t have to build from the ground up each time you’re looking to conquer a new market. If you have the financial capacity for it, you can instead acquire a company that’s already established in the target market or industry. What makes this strategy worthwhile is that it lets you acquire proprietary technology that would otherwise cost a lot of resources to build. You also get access to the customer base of the business you acquired.
- Organic Marketing
In this digital era, organic growth is by far the most cost-effective way to reach new customers and expand your small business. It’s ideal for entrepreneurs without a huge budget for acquisitions or paid ads. You only need to invest in an online presence and meaningful content to get started. Once you do that, new customers can find your business or products through an online organic search. The ROI on this customer-acquisition approach is substantially high.
Explore Startup Assistance and Business Growth Strategies
No small business is the same as another, so you need a personalized strategy to put your young company on its ideal growth trajectory. The Economic Development Collaborative is here to help you with smart ideas and resources for sustainable startup growth. Contact us today for details!
