Shaking off assumptions about the work of marketers can be rather challenging. Many view marketers as the Colouring-in people, painting pretty pictures and being all creative… Although I’m a marketer, I have been on the other side for quite some time, working with fast-paced entrepreneurs and business owners.
More than just holding a crayon, marketers’ responsibility is to set the direction, mechanism & pace of the business’ growth. In my current position, I’ve worked with business owners to fulfil our 3×3 promise – 3 times growth in 3 years. As my 6th year anniversary is coming up, I’d like to share my top tips for growth:
- Create a sustainable business model. Are you making enough money for the long term?
- Understand the market as well as the industry – this is an important distinction as outlined in https://www.orangesky.com.au/industry-player-or-a-market-player/
- Define your value proposition – what are you good at? What do you do better than anyone else? https://www.orangesky.com.au/usp-defining/
- Clarify your growth strategy – how are you going to grow? The options are multiple and varied. Here is a chance to veer outside your comfort zone. https://www.orangesky.com.au/quickest-way-expanding-market-share/
- Align your team towards the same goals – work towards eliminating anything that hinders growth. (Pro Tip – Watch out for potential conflicts of interests).
- Cultivate your pipeline – complacency is one of the top reasons for growth stagnation. Being bullish on new business development, continuously chasing new business (while, of course, making sure to maintain existing client relationships) is a great way to ensure rapid growth.
- Close sales – make sure you have good sales closers. Your team and bank account will thank you for it.
- Manage your cash – this is everyone’s responsibility. Business owners must manage cash carefully to stay a step ahead of competitors and take on growth opportunities when others can’t.
- Apply Macro management style– Teach your team to do their job and let them! Innovation, growth and great morale comes from your team members when they are left to do their job.
- Create a scalable infrastructure – your hiring processes, IT infrastructure, commercial arrangements, funding capacity, licences and compliance must support your growth aspirations.
Bonus tip (note – number of tips) – Under-promise and over-deliver!
The big question though, is how big do you want to be?
