stages of development - International Business Growth Radio Network

Planning For Growth - James Bryant

18/12/2020

James W. Bryant - "Better You 4U - An Entrepreneur's Journey"

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Introduction

The normal planning cycle for your business may be a bit off this year dealing with the impacts of COVID-19. This week the first vaccination dosage was given to a nurse, who has been working on the frontlines of this crisis. I want to take a moment to thank all of the health care workers, the transit providers, the grocery store workers, and all of the other occupations that had to do to work in order for the rest of us to order things in or just run to the store and pick things up. We may have to wear masks but we are able to go and work out of the comfort of our homes and are not faced with the prospect of confronting someone with the virus from our routine work activities. So Thank You.

Now back to my point – There are glimmers of hope emerging from the current crises. The estimates range from 6-12 months from the time that a vaccine is widely available for when the economy might be back to what would be considered “normal” levels. If you have not already started to plan for the growth of your business there is no better time than the present.

If you previously developed a growth plan that you put on hold waiting until after the pandemic passes, now might be a great time to review that plan to see if the assumptions that you used to develop the plan still hold true in a post COVID environment.

I asked you last week to focus on those activities needed in order to grow your business. This week we are going to use those identified activities to develop a growth plan for your business.

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Show Objectives
There is no doubt that 2020 has been a very disruptive year to us personally and in our businesses but as we learned in past weeks, that looking beyond your current circumstances, may allow you to see future opportunities. The conditions of 2021 and 2022 will be rapidly evolving and you want to put yourself, and your company, in the right position to take advantage of what the evolving marketplace has to offer.

The purpose of today’s show is to provide a framework to help you develop your company’s growth plan for 2021 and beyond. We will discuss some general growth strategies, the key elements of a business grow plan, and take a closer look at developing a rolling annual marketing plan.
Let’s get growing!

Key Concepts:
Growth Strategies

Customer focused
Marketing
Sales
Operations

Key Questions:

What is a business growth plan?
What questions does the growth plan have to address?
What is a Rolling Annual Marketing Plan (RAMP)?
Who is my primary customer?
What are my primary customer’s pain points?

Develop a growth plan for your business

Business growth plans are short-term targeted plans that outline where you see your business in the next 12-18 months. The plans also include your current thinking on the strategies that you want to use to execute your plan. The growth plan should be structured to allow for quarterly review and adjustments. At the end of each quarter, you can review your progress and adjust your tactics as needed. This also allows for the growth plan to be a living document that has the flexibility to adapt as conditions warrant.

The plan should cover:

1. Opportunities
2. Growth Goals
3. Strategy
4. Resource

Develop a Rolling Annual Marketing Plan (updated quarterly)

A rolling annual marketing plan is where you develop your marketing strategy over the course of the next 12-months. The plan adjusts each quarter as you execute the activities and measure and track their performance. You may have more detailed information in the first 2 quarters of the plan and allow for some flexibility in moving forward. One of the general growth strategies that we discussed earlier was hosting events. We can’t accurately predict when we will be able to host in-person events on a regular basis, we can develop a plan around on-line engagement. What types of activities can we consider?