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Evolve

Growth

5 strategies for growth

In this business meeting they are planning future decisions

How to build a platform for growth.

In our modern world, where technology and innovation are advancing at an exponential rate, we need to adapt rapidly, throwing off the shackles of thinking in traditional methods about growth.

Many leaders we meet have been taught that the only way to grow a business is to reach for this incremental gain year-on-year, regular as clockwork. In reality, maintaining this regular growth is not only difficult (and growing more difficult by the year) but also painfully slow.

At Evolve, we aim to help entrepreneurs with ambition rethink their growth strategies in order to ride the tsunami of disruption and transformation whilst still maintaining their core Beliefs and Essence (for more on Beliefs and Essence, see our article: What It Means to Be a Truly Evolved Leader).

Here are five key strategies to get you started.

1. Be disruptive to your industry

Businesses which only try to follow trends – or worse still cling to a world that no longer exists, or in which they used to be successful – may generate revenue initially, but they won’t endure the test of time or changing markets. They don’t stand out and they don’t have a solid, recognisable brand. I’d go so far as to say that they are unlikely to even exist in a few years’ time! This is because they are not really adding value.

A good example of this is in gaming, a multi-billion dollar technology industry that has recently taken off in a way that would have been thought unbelievable even twenty years ago. There are many trends in gaming, some running simultaneously (it is a technology industry after all, so is always on the move). What’s interesting is there appear to be two types of company in the gaming industry: the first type are those who spend years experimenting and searching for a new breakthrough formula/game type that completely changes how people play; the second type are those who try to improve upon the existing formulas by releasing ‘their own version’ of the game, with one or two personal or distinct touches. Invariably, in 90% of cases, it is the first type of company that enjoys the significantly greater success. Once in a blue moon, the second type of company produces something so refined it dramatically improves the user experience and everyone migrates from the original title to the new version, but most of the time, the original stands the test of time and the copy quickly fades out.

It is important to remember this. The ambition to be disruptive, to break new ground, is key to success. We, at Evolve, encourage all our entrepreneurs to strive for originality and innovation, rather than repeating the processes of the past. Whilst you may be in an industry that you do not believe has the capacity for this level of disruption, consider for a moment just how many industries have been affected by technological advance: travel, health, insurance, accounting, entertainment, housing… the list goes on. Find your way to be disruptive so that you can become a game-changer.

2. Intellectual Property

Though few businesses seem to realise this, every organisation has Intellectual Property (IP), regardless of whether they have patents or trademarks. This could be a unique process, a way of employing technology, specific branding, or a knowledge base. Defining your Intellectual Property, and therefore what makes your business unique, is key to establishing the value of your organisation in the eyes of customers and collaborators. If you know who you are and remain in touch with what is unique about your offering to the world, then you are far more likely to grow, as others will also be able to perceive your value. We recommend that you document your specific processes, strategies, products and services. This will not only reinforce your identity, but also protect you in instances where others might be laying claim to your original ideas.

3. Recurring revenues

More and more, we are seeing organisations thrive using a recurring revenue model, and other types of organisations fall off the wagon. It’s surprising just how many businesses still operate on a model that is reliant on intensive lead-generation and overworked sales teams: one-off jobs here and there that eventually add up to pay the bills and staff. This might work for a sole trader in their early stages, but for an established organisation, this kind of hand-to-mouth process of piecemeal revenue generation is really a bad sign. For one thing, it makes it very difficult to scale upwards and grow even if you are getting lots of business.

It is easier in some industries than others to set up recurring revenues, of course. In accountancy, for example, recurring income is the standard model, so it’s fairly easy to achieve this. Creating a workable model, in whatever industry you occupy, is part of the disruptive innovation process. Consider how Netflix has transformed the video-rental model. Blockbuster and video-rental was a pay-as-you-go model that in the long run didn’t survive. Netflix, on the other hand, have regular monthly revenue coming in from all of their 150 million subscribers (for what is pretty much the exact same service in reality). As Warren Munson outlines:

Tying major customers into long-term contracts is an important goal to try and achieve – it builds real value into the business.

Warren Munson, Founder, Evolve

4. Subscription businesses

Linked with the previous point, converting regular customers/income into subscriptions is even more powerful. One only has to look at how crowd-funding sites such as Patreon, which allows creators to build followings of monthly subscribers who can access exclusive content, has transformed the way artists, designers, writers and filmographers earn over the last few years.

At Evolve, we predict going forward that the ‘invoice/get paid’ model will be all but eradicated from every conceivable industry in the near future. When we look at the disruptive businesses we have talked about here and in other Evolve articles, such as Netflix, Uber, Airbnb, we can see that all of them, in some shape or form, have a subscription model.

The simple truth of why this is so powerful is that the subscription-based income stream is certain. And in the short term, the valuations being made on subscription-based businesses are considerably greater. Take a few moments to reflect, or perhaps spend an afternoon mind mapping, on how you could evolve your business to enable it to adopt a subscription model in the future.

5. ‘That little bit of sizzle’ or being proactive

At Evolve, we advocate ambition. We think you should always be looking for the next opportunity, the next market to crack, the next evolution in service, technology or communication. Whilst constructing your foundation is important, and establishing that base upon which all other aspects of your business can be built, the drive to seek new things and explore new avenues of potential is critical to enduring in the long run.

We hope that you found these five key strategies useful and inspiring. By integrating several of these strategies into your workplace routine, you will be on your way to up-scaling your business in ways you never thought possible.

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