Plan Now, Build Later: Creating Infrastructure to Support Business Growth

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘ failing to plan is planning to fail ‘. Maybe you associate this old saying with your last family road trip, but unsurprisingly, it also applies to your business growth plan.

Growth is an issue entrepreneurs often ignore. In the early days of a startup, having a business growth plan seems like a problem for the distant future. However, without a plan to grow your company into the next phase, you risk stifling your potential in the chaos of tools that are too limiting and processes that can’t scale.

A business growth plan should always be part of your overall business strategy. Here are some questions that will help get you started.

Where Are You Now?

Any plan for the future starts with a good understanding of where you are now. A place to start is by performing a SWOT analysis of your current position. Make sure to pay special attention to opportunities that can add to your business growth.

A thorough SWOT analysis can be challenging, so get your team involved! Try a survey or a ‘town hall’ style meeting (with pizza ?) that gives your team a chance to provide feedback and get excited about your business growth strategy.

Where Do You Want to Be?

Where do you see yourself in five years? It may be the dreaded question of entrepreneurs and spouses alike, but it’s an important one. You’ll want to put some thought into the direction you’d like to take your business. Think outside of your products or services. A couple helpful questions to ask are:

• What kind of relationship do you want to have with your clients?
• What kind of voice do you want to have in your community?
• What types of people do you want on your team?

How Will You Make It Happen?

Don’t just daydream about where you’d like to be in five years. Write it down, plan it out, and make it happen! The best way to ensure you meet your goals is to record and share them. Talk about them with your team, announce them publicly (if you can), and then KEEP talking about them. Your business growth plan should include actionable items and major milestones that you can celebrate and share.

Achieving Your Business Growth Plan

Now that you’ve created your business growth plan, here are some tips and tricks to consider.

Don’t Micromanage

You can’t do everything. As your company grows, you’ll need to build a team of people you can trust and properly delegate tasks and responsibilities to them. An investment in your talent can ensure that you build a productive, valuable team that can lead your business into the next phase of its growth.

Build and Automate a Sales Funnel

Building a sales funnel is a crucial step in planning your business growth. A sales funnel steps through the process your client takes from the first time they search for your company, product, or service, to the point they become a paying customer. You don’t need to automate every action a lead takes. However, there are some simple parts of your sales process that you can (and should) automate for efficiency as you scale your business.

Organize Your Tools and Processes

When selecting tools and solidifying processes, you should always have your business growth plan in mind. Having proper tools and processes in place increases your productivity and your ability to scale. It can also reduce stress, increase retention, and simplify the onboarding of new team members and clients.

We use Navo to properly organize our company tools and information. Our Team Admin can manage and instantly publish bookmarks for the whole company, so our team is always connected to the right resources even as we continue to grow. When a process or tool changes, it’s quickly updated in Navo to avoid confusion.

Entrepreneurs should consider a growth plan from the first days of starting up. Your business growth plan is an important part of your overall business strategy.

Originally published at https://getnavo.com on January 31, 2020.