How to Grow Your Business Sustainably in the Current Market: The Drivers and Enablers of Growth
By Mikesh Raithatha
In our client advisory board meetings, we often discuss the drivers and enablers of growth.
It is important as a business grows that the drivers and enablers of growth are kept in reasonable balance.
If the drivers of growth far outweigh the enablers of growth then there is the potential to blow up the business, with the impacts including:
- Gross inefficiencies and reduced profit margins
- The business’ infrastructure becoming stretched, sometimes to breaking point
- An increase in the complexity of the business and reduced communications
- Wasteful processes
- Stress and strain on people which can lead to burnout
- Dilution of culture as more people are taken on, making it difficult to develop management and reinforce business values
- Extreme pressure on cashflow.
In the current market, the CCI Business Confidence Survey recently identified that the leading barrier to growth for WA businesses remains rising operating costs and labour shortages. While these pressures are easing, the proportion of businesses in WA seeing rising operating costs remains high at 71%, and the availability of skilled labour remains a barrier to growth for 68% of WA businesses. Consumer demand is softening. However, it is far less of a concern. For many businesses right now, the drivers of growth outweigh the enablers of growth. It is the enablers of growth that require focused strategies.
So, in the current market, what should be strategies for your business setting up the year ahead? Consider the following questions.
How to refine the drivers of growth
In particular;
- Are you clear on your target customer and what work to say no to? When business opportunities are more abundant than your business’s capacity to deliver, get clear on which are the best opportunities to pursue.
- Can you improve your sales process and how do you better articulate your value proposition?
- In terms of product development, are there opportunities to develop the offer to increase value to the customer and price, and to reduce cost?
How to strengthen the enablers of growth
In particular;
- In terms of operations, are there opportunities to simplify your processes and remove waste? Conduct a waste audit, and improve processes where possible to remove it.
- Can you invest and better take advantage of technology to be more efficient and reduce reliance on labour costs?
- From an HR perspective, are you clear on your “Employee Value Proposition” so you can better attract, develop and retain staff?
- Do you have the right people in the right seats doing the right things and can you better scale your business by re-organising who does what work?
- What is your marketing plan and channels to market to attract the right customers and staff?
- How can you better manage cash flow, including working capital (trade debtors, inventory and trade creditors), to finance growth?
If you focus on answering these questions for your business, you will be better positioned to navigate this time and grow your business while balancing the drivers and enablers of growth.
If you have any questions about this content or would like to speak to us about how we can help you grow your business, please contact us at admin@brentnallswa.com.au or call us at (08) 6212 7200.
