Most small businesses start out with a business plan in hand, primarily as a tool to help raise start-up capital. But once a business is up and running, it’s rare that the real-world operating conditions and challenges it faces line up exactly with the business plan’s projections. To keep moving forward, an SMB must convert its business plan to a business growth plan. Here are some tips on how to do that.

• Deliver on your promises. To fulfill promises to customers and vendors, you must understand and account for how your operations will change as the company grows. Growth plans should cover costs related to facilities, equipment, supplies, and staffing resources that will be needed to meet increased demand for your products or services.
• Know your market. You need ongoing marketplace research to best understand how to leverage your products/services to the appropriate audience at the most profitable price point. You also need to know who your competitors are and what their market share is. Explore possible markets that you might now be equipped to compete in, and take the time to consider new opportunities for growth, such as the possibility of one or more of your competitors dropping out of the market.
• Define the uncommon offering that your business will own, and leverage it. Every enterprise has at least one underutilized strength. The larger issue is discovering what it is. Steps to follow after defining the uncommon offering your business will own and leverage include: identifying the core customer most likely to buy your product or service, creating the persuasive strategy that will convince that customer to choose your offering over competitive offerings, and implementing a series of imaginative acts that celebrate your uncommon offering and make it well known to your core customer.
• Focus, focus, focus. It’s tempting to spread resources around, but the resulting dilution dooms many growth plans to early failure. Companies that are really good at maintaining growth simplify down to a few critical initiatives and capabilities, and put all their muscle behind them. This prioritization starts from the top. Good leaders need to be able to make the tough decisions about which areas to focus on.
• Image matters. That pertains not just to the image projected to the general public, but especially to the image a business owner or other individual closely associated with the business projects to key audiences. Given the expanding roles of social media and online marketing, personal branding is essential to turning a business plan into a business growth plans. The goal is to market, create a buzz, and make it clear that you are a leader or expert—and, hopefully, that will lead to you becoming an influencer.

Gustavo A Viera CPA

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