No company ever made it without growth.
Let’s analyze that word for a second, shall we? Growth.
A necessary and very important ingredient for success, growth can occur in more ways than one. Product line development, an expanding customer base, an increasing workforce, and amplified online presence are just a few examples of enterprise-related growth, all of which are attainable when you utilize a business process that inspires innovation like the SitSite processes.
Why does growth play such a big role in company profitability, you ask?
Well, the bigger the product or service range you offer, the more customers you can assist and the more people you will need to employ as a way of maintaining business operations. While this might seem fairly simple to comprehend, a shocking number of companies run into crisis mode when they are faced with company growth challenges.
In fact, more than half of growth-halted businesses actually suffer as a result of inadequate funding or planning, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Report (2015/2016).
On that note, ask yourself, has your business stopped growing?
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the most successful companies out there managed to sidestep a plateau, because it’s actually quite natural. What is not natural, however, is allowing your company to decline after that plateau. A slowdown might be inevitable, but the death of a business is not. Rather than admitting defeat, learn how to identify the signs and recover from such an incident.
Here are five signs you should be innovating your brand to stay relevant in your field:
- You don’t analyze activity inside/outside the workplace. It might be time to rethink your business model if you haven’t spent time analyzing workplace activity. The quicker a company grows, the more frequently you will need to turn over every stone and assess its growth. If this is lacking anywhere, you’ll know about it.
- Your website is exceedingly out-of-date. Billions of people now use smartphones, so you can expect a big portion of your customers to access your website using a mobile device. Unless you update your website in an innovative and mobile friendly way, it will be tricky to lure in new customers. As a result, business growth will be stunted.
- Your customer base is irrelevant and old. Without customers, your business would fall flat at the first hurdle. After all, a company’s main source of revenue is, in fact, their target market. Treasure your long-standing customers, but don’t forget that customer behaviors may change from time-to-time. What might have really appealed to your market in the past could prove influential for an entirely new customer base now.
- Your workplace duties are repetitious. Nobody wants to fall into the routine of carrying out monotonous tasks that, quite frankly, have not changed since a company’s early beginnings. Businesses that don’t transform with the times will become stale… and nobody likes stale.
- Your profits and losses statements do not change. This is never a good sign. Even if your office phones are constantly ringing and your team are rushed off their feet, lack of growth in the financial department is a serious concern for overall growth. A successful and developing company should be earning more and losing less, so if you notice anything different, take action.
What is the solution for a business plateau?
A mistake that many business owners will make in regards to solving a business plateau is spending all of their hard-earned cash trying to regain growth. Although money does help your business accomplish certain tasks like updating office technology or switching to a bigger office in a different location, there is a planning phase that must not be overlooked.
Once you understand why your business is plateauing, whether it is due to poor conversion rates or an outdated business model, you can start addressing capacity issues, which is a leading cause of failure to accommodate growth.
One thing is for sure and it’s that you need to be incorporating the right kind of technology into your business. Reverse the risks of your business going down a slippery slope by optimizing your website for the newest generation, better known as ‘Generation Z’. Optimize website content into a mobile-friendly format, use negative reviews as a constructive criticism opportunity and if you want to go that extra mile for your customers, use live chat!
How can Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) help?
A systematic instrument will be a useful tool in your quest to manage and sustain business growth. The more solid your grasp of market changes, the easier it will be to spot an opportunity for business expansion. Through the use of systematic inventive thinking, you can learn how to assess customer behavior, process needs, foresee potential production problems and changes in demographics. With this valuable information, you can pay attention to internal issues and overcome that dreaded plateau.
How has your systems and procedures been affected by systematic inventive thinking? Has your company seen benefit from the implementation of their innovation inspired processes? Share your stories in the comments below.