Are you like many small business owners who get so busy doing the day-to-day work of the business that they do not recognize the potential for growth? If so, your business may have significant growth potential, but you have not yet been able to recognize it.
The old saying “there’s gold in them there hills” could apply to your business; all you have to do is find it.
Our last article mentioned the SWOT analysis, which helps find untapped potential in your business.
Opportunities are the untapped potential in your business. They can come from external changes in the business landscape or internally in the things you just don’t have time for in the day-to-day operation of your business.
These can result in the following:
Answering these questions is like taking a quick screenshot of the opportunities available to you. We will explore these opportunities as we move ahead.
Right now, there are three areas that you are uncovering:
The pulse of your business will usually be directed by just how active your marketing is. It could be paid, low-cost, or free. However, to grow your business, you need to evaluate your current marketing efforts to make changes relative to your small business’s continued growth.
Let’s take a moment to review precisely what is happening to your business.
Once that is done, you can look at making positive changes that will reflect the future growth of your small business.
Perform an audit of the past 12 months from a marketing perspective.
Ask yourself:
Your marketing initiatives may need to expand for your business revenue growth.
You may need to draw on new investments to cover the marketing costs for your upscaled business growth. However, you can expect a more efficient business designed to save you time and money and to draw more customers to your brand.
Steps to achieve this could be:
In business, it is not uncommon to be affected by external factors over which you have no direct control. These are ‘Threats’ that make up the fourth component of the SWOT analysis. You need to have a plan to recognize and deal with these.
These include:
Your competitors can also make changes that affect your business. Therefore, you must monitor your competitors to know and understand who they are, what they are up to, and how they can affect your business growth.
For example, your direct competitor discounts prices by 50%. What will be your plan of action? The same applies if there is a new competitor. How will you make sure that your business stands apart from the rest?
In addition, there can be external factors such as:
Once you recognize these negative factors, you can turn them into opportunities. So don’t ignore them; look for opportunities.
Here are some questions designed to help you identify the external factors that could affect your business’s performance.
Uncovering opportunities to help you grow your small business can come from both positive and negative internal and external factors. You need to be aware of them and deal with them directly.
Other articles in this series:
How To Successfully Grow Your Small Business
Preparing to Grow Your Small Business
Business Growth: Your Team and Tools
Creating your Business Growth Plan
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