Business growth

There is something to the idea that if a business is not expanding it is withering away.

Here are some ideas that could keep your company thriving.

Expand the pond

Moving into nearby markets is often a simple way to increase revenue, as many experts have pointed out.

Here is one way that can play out. Let’s say you dominate the hammer market and because you do, growth is hard to come by.

So you decide to sell hardware of all kinds. By doing so, you have moved into an adjacent market (hardware) where the one you dominate (hammers) can be considered a subset.

Expanding the pond is exactly what the major soft drink companies have done. They have redefined the areas in which they compete. They no longer sell just sodas. They offer beverages of all kinds — water, sports drinks and the like.

Easy growth

One relatively simple way to increase revenue is by trying to sell more to existing customers.

Writing on About.com, Susan Ward, who with a partner runs Cypress Technologies, a technology consulting firm, offers some ways to do just that. Among them:

- “Upsell” — that is offer related products or services. A company that sells consumer electronics may offer an extended services contract. A house cleaning company may offer a discount if you have them clean your windows as well.

- Share. Let your best customers know when new merchandise will be coming in or going on sale. Odds are they will buy more and probably tell others.

- Reward your customers. “How can you expect customer loyalty if all customers are treated as ‘someone off the street’?” Ward asks. “There are all kinds of ways that you can show your regular customers that you value them, from small things such as greeting them by name through larger benefits such as giving regulars extended credit or discounts.”

Are you committed?

Entrepreneur suggests that you “rate yourself with this checklist based on questions developed by General Electric’s Six Sigma black belts.” Answering no to any of them, it says, may mean it is “time to reassess parts of your company’s growth strategy.”

- Your company has “a defined process to tackle and fix problems” raised by customers.

- “We constantly identify waste in our financial, production, time and materials processes and get rid of it.”

- “We balance capital efficiently between today’s needs and long-term growth.”

- There is a defined process for creating, launching and developing new products or services.

- “We’ve come up with clear growth goals, and we invest in the staff and processes needed to meet these goals.”

From the bookshelf

Robert H. Blum, the former chairman in the United States and chief executive of the advertising agency Publicis Worldwide, is convinced that “every enterprise has at least one underutilized existing strength that can be the centerpiece of a powerful growth strategy.”

To find it, he argues in his book “The Inside Advantage” (written with Dave Conti), you need to follow this four-step process:

First you need to ask who is your core customer, the person “most likely to buy your product or service in the quantity required for optimal profit.”

Second, you need to decide what is the “uncommon offering your business will own and leverage?”

Knowing that, the question becomes: How will you convince your core customer that your uncommon offering is better than anything else available?

And finally, how will you “own” this advantage in the minds of the customer?

Last call

For an alternative take on growth, consider Emma McCreary’s column “Grow Consciously So Your Business Doesn’t Eat You Alive.”

McCreary describes herself as a “an entrepreneur, Web designer and a happiness advocate.” This is her message: “Don’t assume that bigger is better unless bigger is what you really want. Take some time to design your business as it grows.”