An article by FD Works
Focus on These Five Areas to Achieve Sustainable Business Growth
Sustainable growth can be defined as realistically achievable growth that a company can maintain without running into problems.
While venture capitalists and unicorns may muddied the waters in recent years, aiming for sustainable growth makes a lot of sense for the majority of businesses.
While not an exhaustive list, having the following five pieces in place will help you achieve your goals in the short, medium and long-term.
Look After the Fundamentals
If you want your business to grow, prosper and ultimately succeed, it’s important to start with solid foundations. Make sure your day-to-day administration tasks and accounting processes are watertight before you start to think about scaling your venture.
Remember, technology and automation can be two of your best friends here. If there’s a repetitive job that’s taking you or a member of your team a good chunk of time to complete, there’s more than a chance somebody has created a tool that can help.
Set aside time to find the right technology tools (or ‘tech stack’) for your business. Done correctly, this will give you a big advantage as you start to grow.
Keep Your People Happy
Happy people are productive people and productive people are your best asset for sustainable growth. It sounds simple, but it can’t be overstated how crucial happy and engaged employees are for your business.
Beyond autonomy, employees are increasingly looking for flexibility and work-life balance. Building these elements into the benefits you offer is a smart way of offering an attractive package without committing to additional financial awards.
Find the Right Balance Between Existing and New Business
No matter which industry you operate in, you need to understand how you’ll split your time, money and resources between servicing existing clients and actively look for new ones.
Indeed, a number of studies have shown that acquiring a new customer can cost up-to five times as much as keeping an existing client.
A clearly defined strategy and separate teams with specific roles and responsibilities can mitigate some of the risk here. Ensuring you can look after existing clients and work on bringing new ones in.
Seek Productive Partnerships
Getting your internal planning, people and processes in place is a great start. But there are plenty of growth opportunities outside your organisation.
Beyond referrals from happy customers, mutually beneficial partnerships with relevant media outlets, associations and other businesses can yield lots of value.
Adaptable Approach to Leadership
With disruption rippling through most sectors an adaptable leadership approach has become a business imperative.
Beyond the rhetoric, this style of management requires a set of skills not always associated with natural leaders. Namely introspection, self-awareness and mindfulness of the others you work with.
FD Works are Yena’s accounting brand partners
Accountants, business advisors and Xero specialists based in Bristol, and working UK-wide with innovative businesses.
If you’re ambitious and passionate about what you do, we want to help you make bold business decisions and realise your full potential.
