Create a growth plan

3 questions to answer before you create a growth plan

• Who are my competitors?
  To identify high-value opportunities, it’s crucial to understand your competitors and what drives their success. Gather and analyze data from public sources like websites and social media to sharpen your competitive advantage.
• Am I targeting the right customers?
  Consider whether you understand your customer’s decision-making process. Identify the sales and marketing strategies necessary to reach your target audience and boost sales within the next 12 months. A strong digital presence is vital to this effort.
• What are my high-value opportunities?
  Identify, map, and prioritize opportunities that can be seized quickly. These could include optimizing underused channels, shifting market positioning, or expanding product lines and geographic reach.

What’s in a growth plan?

A growth plan outlines how your business will expand and increase revenue, helping to capture more market share from existing or new customers over a 12-month period.

• It focuses on a specific timeframe.
• It highlights opportunities for quick wins with the best returns.
• It identifies your ideal clients.
• It maps the customer journey, detailing the steps they take to purchase your product or service.
• It outlines the most valuable channels—such as SEO, content marketing, email, field marketing, social media, and advertising—that will drive revenue growth.
• It projects financial results, including estimated revenues and expenses.

A growth plan also evaluates your current team’s capabilities and resources, helping you assess whether they can meet your company’s growing demands or if additional hires will be needed as revenue scales.

Is expansion part of your growth plan?

Beyond increasing sales of your current products to existing customers, two key growth strategies are expanding into new markets and developing new products.

New Products

• No need to expand the distribution network.
• Leverage existing brand awareness.
• Opportunities for innovation with small changes, such as rebranding, new packaging, or offering different sizes or colors.

New Markets (in Canada or internationally)

• Explore options like third-party sellers, partnerships, or acquisitions.
• Be mindful of potential logistical costs.
• Conduct thorough market research to identify the right target audience.

Map your growth

You need to clearly identify the growth opportunities you plan to pursue over the next 12 months. Start by listing all potential opportunities, assessing their risk levels and revenue potential, and ranking them to prioritize your focus.

With this prioritized list, you can then move on to developing your actual growth plan. The plan will outline the selected growth strategies, ensure the necessary conditions are in place to support them and establish a timeline for each initiative.

Below is an example of what a growth plan might look like for a manufacturing company.

Table of Contents of “How to Grow Your Revenues: A guide for entrepreneurs”: