It’s getting harder to grow. Recession fears have customer’s pulling back from investments in new products and services. But for businesses that want to stay in business, growing is not an option. It is a necessity.
So, given today’s challenges, how do you find growth in 2023? Here are three steps you can take to move forward now.
Step One: Change your mindset. Recognize and confront the Growth Myth. The Growth Myth is a monster that just about every business owner buys into. That is, that growth comes from “doing stuff.”
Do any of these sound familiar?
“Let’s throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.”
“Let’s run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.”
“We like to fly by the seat of our pants.”
“Assess and pivot. It’s the only way to go.”
The practice is so common, so accepted, so widely used that we naturally gravitate to it. It’s so ingrained in our business DNA that most of us wouldn’t know how to run our businesses without it.
I know I never did! Until I learned that the pervasive business practice commonly known as trial-and-error decision making is one of the costliest and time-consuming business crushers of all time.
Just about everything we believe about the value of trial-and-error decision making, or as it is now commonly called, “assess and pivot” is a myth.
When you want to throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks, you mostly end up with dirty walls. It’s easy to assess and pivot your way into a financial quagmire. Sustainable growth it’s not.
The mindset change is this: I will not grow the size and profitability of my business simply by working harder. I need to work smarter.
Yeah, I know. You’ve heard that one ad infinitum too! So how?
Step 2: Lay the Foundation for Growth. My friend Kelle recently moved to Florida. The two hurricanes that blew through her neighborhood last year exposed a deep crack in her home’s foundation. Her house flooded. You don’t have to be a builder to know that a weak foundation will lead to problems: hole plugging not growing.
As business owners we are builders. The most important ingredient in your growth, especially this year, is to build a strong foundation. That foundation has three pillars: brand, customers and message.
Build Your Brand
People don’t buy products/services they buy brands. Especially in hard economic times. That’s why companies like Apple, Coca Cola, Amazon spend billions building their brands and developing brand loyalty.
As a business owner working directly with customers, you may think you don’t have a brand. Actually the brand is you. Your personality, experience and reputation.
As an executive you also have a brand, a personal brand that is developed from that same personality, experience and reputation and which determines how well the people in your organization perform.
To grow your business you need build on the power of that brand. The foundation for growth is a clear understanding of your brand values, promise, personality and voice so you can more deeply connect your brand to your customers and employees. That creates the loyalty that keeps them buying from you even when budgets tighten. It keeps employees on the job in this tight job market.
How strong is the power of your brand? If you aren’t sure, invest in a brand audit today. We can help. Get started by downloading this brand/marketing scorecard.
Want fast action on laying the foundation for growth?
Book an Octain Discovery Day. Our Discovery Day is an off-site & Executive Retreat Mashup. We spend three hours understanding your business growth challenges, gaps and opportunities. We provide an analysis and recommendations for the changes you need to make to meet your growth goals in today’s challenging economy.
Learn more about an Octain Discovery Day here.