Development of the company from scratch. Learn to feel your audience. stage. Active promotion

How to develop your business? Where to go, what to do next?

Only half of startups "survive" after 5 years of development, and only a third continue to work after 10 years. What can you do to keep your company afloat for a long time? To stand out and grow quickly in your market? The answer to this question will help you choose the right strategy for developing your business.

The reference or baseline development strategies of the company are considered the most well-known and proven in practice.

What is the essence of reference strategies?

They reflect 4 different approaches to the development and growth of the company, they are also associated with a change in the state of one (several) elements, such as:

Each element can be in the following states:

The existing state;
New condition.

For example, a company can choose to manufacture / sell the same product or start the production / sale of a new product.

There are four groups of business development strategies in total:

1) These are strategies that are aimed at changing what is produced and the market in which this product is presented and at the same time does not affect other elements.

What I mean?

The company aims to change the product in better side or the production / sale of a new product without changing the industry.

In the case of the market: the company is looking for opportunities to improve its position in an existing market or decides to enter a new market.

Concentrated Growth Strategy Types:

In the first type of strategy, companies devote all their resources to "winning" the best positions in the existing market.

The second type of strategy means looking for new markets for an existing product.

The third type is the production / sale of a new product in the old market.

2) The goal of this strategy is to expand by adding new structures. The company can expand either through the acquisition of property, or expand from within. All these processes take place within the industry.

Types of integrated growth strategies:

The first type of strategy is aimed at strengthening control over suppliers, as well as creating subsidiaries that carry out procurement. This leads to the growth of the company.

The second type is aimed at strengthening control over the structures that stand between the company and the end user.

3) These strategies are implemented only when the company can no longer develop with an existing product in this market in the usual industry. When the company has already reached the limit with the product.

The main strategies of this group are:

Briefly about diversified growth strategies:

Search the latest features for production newest product in the existing one.
Finding growth opportunities for your company with new products, which in turn needs a new technology.
The company will expand through the production / sale of technologically unrelated products that will be sold in new markets.

4) Companies after a long period of growth or companies that need to improve efficiency (when changes in the economy are traced) need to regroup their forces.

The main types of strategies in this group are:

The first strategy is applied when the company already has the ability to run its business.
The second strategy is aimed at obtaining the highest possible income in short term... This strategy is suitable for a business that can no longer be sold profitably, but it is possible to "harvest". Reduced production with the sale of existing products.
The third strategy involves the closure or sale of one of its divisions.
The latter strategy seeks to find ways to reduce costs.

Intensive growth strategy

Growth strategies are like a ladder, where smaller steps represent less risk but less development. Beginners must overcome the lowest rungs in order to gradually move to new levels of development. Take a look at these steps. Each strategy brings more opportunities, but also more risk:

Market penetration. Least risky strategy. With its help, you can sell more of your product. Show how you can use your product differently, show its new possibilities.
Market development. This is the next step. Find a way to sell as much of a product as possible to a similar market. Or to a neighboring city / country where they haven't heard of you yet. Experts say that large companies recent times relied on market development as their primary growth strategy.
Alternative channels. This strategy involves finding customers through channels that you have not used before. For example, using the Internet to sell your products / services. Or offering additional products. For example, a laptop bag when buying a laptop.
New products for new customers. Sometimes market conditions tell you that you should create new products for new ones. For example, you are selling a sled. But this year there was no snow and they do not predict. You need to come up with something new. Offer something relevant to your customers. For example, start making scooters. This is the strategy Apple used when it introduced the iPod to the market. This product was not on the market, it represented some kind of alternative to slot machines. In addition, they were sold independently of Apple computers.

If you decide to use a strategy of intensive growth, then you need to choose one step first. And you can gradually introduce new technologies of promotion and expansion. Remember that every step comes with a risk. Sometimes you have no choice but to take risks with renewed vigor.

An integrative growth strategy

There are three ways to apply an integrative growth strategy:

Horizontal. This strategy involves buying a competing company. This step not only grows your company, but also removes one barrier to your development -.
Backward. This strategy involves buying one of your suppliers. This helps you better control your supply chain, develop new products faster, and potentially reduce your spending.
Promotion... This strategy aims to acquire companies that are part of your distribution chain. For example, if you are a clothing manufacturer, you could buy several retail stores in a nearby town.

7 development steps that quickly bring results (instead of a conclusion)

Set the cost of the offer

To support the long-term growth of your company, you need to understand what sets you apart from the competition. Why do customers come to you for a product or service? What is provoking in your proposal? Use these answers to explain to new potential customers why they need to buy from you.

For example, some companies stand out for the reliability and quality of their products. Others suggest a lower price. Find out what special benefits your customers will receive.

Find out who your ideal customer is

You came to the market to offer a solution to a problem for a certain category of people. Who are they? Is this audience your ideal customers? If not, what kind of clients do you want to see? Determine who your proposal is aimed at and build on this knowledge in your strategy.

Define key metrics

Change must be measurable. If you cannot measure these changes, you will not understand what is beneficial and what is better to give up. Determine which key metrics are driving the growth of your business, and then devote time and resources to those areas.

Check your sources of income

Starting your own business is certainly a difficult and responsible task, but experienced entrepreneurs will amicably agree that real difficulties come when you start developing an already launched project. The main problem is that the development process is endless. You have to constantly search for a new audience, improve production and strive for even greater profits. How do you run a business if the main goal is to move forward?

To get started, we advise you to read 10 useful tips on how to properly start the growth process. It is not about how to solve a particular problem, but about how to create opportunities for assessment, change and continuous progress. Start using techniques that are appropriate for your industry and you'll be on your way to success pretty quickly.

1. Make up quarterly plans

Quit building vague business strategies, better divide the year into four parts and make detailed plan for every quarter. Let it be realistic, but at the same time ambitious. Analyzing the implementation of these plans, you will begin to note changes for the better, identify your weak sides and you will understand where your strength lies.

2. Come up with different marketing strategies

If you spend all your strength and resources on any one promotion method, then you run the risk of being stumped. Try it differently: manage accounts on different social networks, use traditional offline marketing techniques and conduct advertising campaigns within your budget. Taken together, this will do you much more benefit than either one.

3. Protect customers

Not noticing existing customers, but thinking about where and how to find new ones is a very common mistake. And this is fundamentally wrong. Learn to take care of clients and make them come to you again and again. Regular customers are the key to stable sales and best advertisement, because they tell their friends, relatives and acquaintances about you.

4. Don't forget about live communication

Think about how to integrate into local community entrepreneurs and start working on it. Participate in meetings for executives and company owners, organize specialized events, or team up with other business owners and work on joint projects. For inspiration, visit the Wix Seminar (the next one is scheduled for January 27), here you will definitely find like-minded entrepreneurs.

5. Follow the news

Regardless of what kind of business you are in, you need to know what is happening in your industry and in the world of marketing and trade. We advise you to subscribe to good blogs and publications about business (for example), follow trends and keep abreast of everyone latest news and events.

6. Learn to feel the audience

If you want to be interesting for your target audience, you need to understand what is in her head. Study the habits and needs of clients, pay attention to how they communicate with each other and how they perceive themselves. But at the same time, remember that all your conclusions and observations are not forever. People change, which means that your ideas must change along with them.

7. Don't forget about outsourcing

Some business owners find themselves in a situation where it becomes clear that for further development it is necessary to delegate some of the tasks. And it's not just about the time and effort saved. It is possible and necessary to outsource tasks when you understand that the invited specialist will perform them better, and this will ultimately bring success to you.

8. Develop your brand

At its core, a brand is the identity of your business. This is how you position yourself and the image that you want to form in the minds of your customers. Logo, colors of goods, advertising texts and other non-trifles are considered important components of marketing, so they need to be constantly worked on. Many good articles have been written on the topic of brand development, some of them can be found at this

The question of how to develop your business is one of the most important problems for any subject. entrepreneurial activity, regardless of the economic sector in which he operates and the size of his firm. Both theorists of economic disciplines and ordinary businessmen are well aware that a stop in development is the first step towards the collapse of even a well-established business.

How to develop your business correctly

It is this axiom that is the main incentive for constant planning. further work enterprises in order to maintain the regularity: the results of the firm's work for this month should be at least a few percent higher than the indicators financial results in the last reporting period. That is, if in March the profit of your company was 100 thousand (we take conditional indicators), then in April it should be at least one thousand more.

In the presented article, readers will find practical advice how to develop your business from scratch, which are based on many years practical experience entrepreneurs working in different sectors of the economy. Of course, each field of activity has its own nuances that determine the company's development strategy, but there are also universal methods suitable for both a sunflower oil factory and a transport company.

Internet business

A fairly large percentage of readers are interested, first of all, in how to develop their business on the Internet. Therefore, we will begin a detailed analysis of the presented problem with commercial activities, which is based on the use of the World Wide Web.

To develop an already established business, you can:

Attract new customers by improving the quality of products / services or reducing their cost. Methods for achieving these goals depend on the specifics of the activity, the number of competitors, as well as your financial capabilities.

Expand the range of goods sold.

Attract partners who have financial resources or new ideas for the development of the company.

Reconsider your costs and find those costs that can be reduced, and the saved money can be spent on advertising. Sometimes poorly thought out advertising company is the main "brake" for business development.

Study your personnel policy in detail. It might make sense to hire new employees or completely change staffing table firms.

Analysis of the question of how to develop your business via the Internet is not limited to the study of activities that are associated with world wide web... It can be any company, and the Internet, in this case, acts as a tool for its development, and not as a medium of existence, as it was implied in the above situation.

Universal Tricks for Business Development

Planning. Make up detailed plans for a month, a quarter, and upon the expiration of the set deadlines, analyze your own achievements and the reasons that prevented you from doing everything that was planned. This point can be implemented even by those entrepreneurs who are interested in how to develop their business without money.

Attentive attitude to the accumulated customer base- the foundation successful business... A common mistake many entrepreneurs make is that after the first or second transaction with a client, they begin to treat him rather casually, believing that he will not go anywhere. And this is wrong. While developing new contacts, take good care of old customers, otherwise they may go to competitors.

Maintain good relationships with other business people. Attend seminars, meetings, trainings where you can make useful contacts, invite suppliers, wholesalers, etc. to your family dinner. Don't forget about government officials. Personal contacts have always been appreciated in our country (remember how many proverbs there are on this topic).

If you are interested in how to grow your home business, try to pay more attention to different marketing strategies. Alternatively, you can try to use traditional methods marketing in combination with in the latest ways promotion of products on the Internet.

Study psychology. This will help you anticipate the behavior of people who are related to your business, as well as greatly facilitate the process of attracting new clientele. In addition, when communicating with any person, you will receive a lot about him useful information, observing facial expressions, gestures, intonation, etc.

Entrepreneurs who are interested in how to grow their business quickly and without unnecessary financial costs should closely follow the economic and political news. This will allow you to instantly react to any changes that are related to your business. Information obtained from reliable personal sources is of particular value.

Think about what functions in your company can be delegated to invited specialists (outsourcing). This will save you time and money, while the quality of the work performed will be high level... For example, it is expensive for an individual entrepreneur to pay a salary to an accountant, but he also cannot submit reports on his own. By contacting a specialized firm, a businessman will be sure that all accounting work is under control and all reports will go to state institutions on time.

Create your brand and actively develop and promote it. This is one of the best marketing moves to make your products recognizable among similar offers from competing companies.

Make the most of holidays and important dates to increase sales of your products. Sales, promotions, contests for regular customers or other unusual marketing experiments will not only boost sales, but also make your brand recognizable.

Today it is difficult to imagine a business entity working without its own web resource. And this is not just a tribute to fashion, every self-respecting entrepreneur should have his own website so that representatives of the target audience, suppliers and other potential partners can quickly and fully receive the necessary information about your company. Therefore, do not spare money on this item of expenses, be sure to address this issue, even if your activity has nothing to do with the Internet.

Analyzing the question of how to develop your business, you should be ready to completely revise the personnel policy at the enterprise. But first, you need to conduct a thorough check of your subordinates to find out which of them is the ballast for the payroll. Perhaps it makes sense to combine some positions and pay a salary to one person, it is possible that a specialist who was irreplaceable five years ago is not needed at all today, etc.

Make the most of science and technology. Stay tuned for new software and other new products that can be useful for the development of your business.

Transport company development

In the process of analyzing the question of how to develop your business, ideas may arise that were not included in the presented list. Consider at specific example as the owner of the company decided to take up its development. Transport company worked in the market freight transport more than ten years, but in the last year its affairs have deteriorated markedly, so the owner decided to completely rethink the factors that influenced his business. During the existence of the company, the vehicle fleet has become very outdated, both morally (domestic KAMAZ trucks were used) and physically. Clients were reluctant to sign contracts with the firm, preferring to cooperate with those who operate reliable European cars.

Therefore, it was decided to lease new vehicles... The next question is personnel. If everything was fine with the drivers, then the other employees did not suit the director. Applications were accepted by an elderly man who performed mechanical work - he wrote down the order, and at the end of the day passed the list to the management. Decided to accept young specialist, who did an excellent job with the formation of optimal routes, promptly contacted the manager to find a client if he saw that the car would be returning without cargo, etc. This is how a logistician appeared at the company.

The cashier, who was needed ten years ago, when many customers paid in cash, has turned out to be an extra employee today. Instead, they hired a marketer who personal experience knew how to grow your business with advertising. As a result, within a few months the owner of the company saw an increase in the number of orders, a decrease in the cost of each trip and, most importantly, the company received a decent profit!

As you can see, developing your business is sometimes as difficult as starting a new business from scratch, but if you set realistic goals and act deliberately, then any, even the most difficult, issue can be solved without any problems.

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A set of measures aimed at helping small businesses - the basis of economic growth and the "supplier" of jobs for the population.

Meanwhile, small businesses are experiencing a growing tax burden and are forced to compete with transnational and state corporations. Government structures are taking measures to support small businesses in order to establish an equilibrium position of economic agents in the market.

State support instruments for small businesses

Task government organizations engaged in supporting small businesses - to adapt enterprises to an unstable position in the market, the global crisis and overstocking of products. Power structures use four types of tools.

Financial support - the provision of subsidies, loans on affordable terms, the provision of tax incentives, subject to a number of conditions. Such tools reduce the tax burden on small businesses, provide enterprises with financial assets, and make it easier for newcomers to enter the market. A popular instrument of financial support is the simplified taxation system, the simplified tax system. The owner of the enterprise draws up fewer documents for regulatory authorities, the amount of payments is also decreasing.
Provision of commercial real estate - the conclusion of lease agreements on preferential terms, the creation of infrastructure facilities, industrial zones and business incubators. Such tools allow business owners to expand production (retail) areas at minimal cost, to obtain a favorable location. A popular option is the provision of commercial space in municipal areas. For example, the opening of a pastry shop on the first floor of a residential building.
Information support for small businesses - clarification of legal information, seminars and training sessions for managers. Such tools increase the awareness of small business owners, teach them how to reduce the tax burden in a legal way, effectively manage personnel, and introduce new technologies in a timely manner.
Granting subsidies for business start-up and development innovative technologies... The tools motivate the opening of a new enterprise with minimal costs, compensate for the investments of investors at the first stage of commercial activity.

The structure of state support for small businesses

Depending on the economic sector, the characteristics of the enterprise and the priorities of the authorities, small business is supported at three levels.

Federal support is provided by the Ministries of Economy, Finance, Labor and social development, science and technology, as well as the committee for the development of small business in the Russian Federation. State bodies hold competitions for grants, subsidies, tax breaks for individual enterprises.
Regional support is provided by foundations and departments supporting small businesses in the constituent entities of the federation. Such power structures provide financial support, advise newcomers in the field of tax and accounting statements attract business to sponsorship.
The municipal level of small business development is represented by local funds that issue loans on favorable terms. Such structures allow a business to get started faster, get the first profit and not close in a highly competitive environment.

State support instruments are designed to solve two main problems of small businesses: the lack of free money for production and the need for stable sales. finished products... The government provides soft loans and subsidies, government orders for goods and services.

Are you a budding businessman and have been running your own business for some time instead of working for your uncle? Do you think that you can just follow the rut, making money and not striving for more? You are very much mistaken. This track is the path to inevitable collapse.

All your competitors are looking for new ways and methods of work, strive for the all-round development of their business - you should not sit idly by! Business must develop, otherwise it will simply die, crushed in the market by expanding competitors. And you, most likely, will want something more for yourself over time. Do not sit hunched over an office table, even in a boss's office, answering endless phone calls.

Do not get up to work with the first roosters and do not return from work late at night. You will want to receive much more money, spending less of your own efforts on it. In order for a fairy tale to become a reality, you need to understand fairly simple things that will help you start developing.

How can you make your business bring you more profit?

You can open new branches by placing new points of sale in your city or in the region. It is possible that you need to improve the service by an order of magnitude and create convenience for your customers in order to take customers away from their direct competitors. After all, you yourself understand that the more customers you have, the more sales and, accordingly, the profit from your business!

In addition, it is necessary to look for new suppliers and new points of sale, search for offers from other service markets, combine and combine different kinds activities, expand, absorbing and displacing competitors from their market.

The faster the capital turns in your business, the wider the financial river flowing straight into your wallet will become. This will allow you to decide financial side Problems.

What to do to make the business bring money?

But how can you make sure that money goes to you not only when you spend your nerves and efforts in search of new financial solutions and establish contacts with suppliers, buyers and customers? Is it possible to go on a long-awaited vacation and know that while you are swinging in a hammock with a glass of mojito somewhere in Hawaii, your business is not wasting away, but is developing? Everything is possible!

It is necessary to search not only potential clients but also new employees. It is quite possible that you will be able to find and train a person who will not be afraid to entrust development own business and it will not be a pity to pay him a very solid and well-deserved wages... Having competent deputies and assistants is an excellent way out of the situation. They will allow you to shift the lion's share of your direct responsibilities onto their shoulders - it will be enough for you to control the process of making money by your business.

Among other things, it is necessary not only to look for new ways and solutions, but also get rid of obsolete business lines... If any branch of your business project suddenly ceased to bring you income, it may be easier to abandon it and find something new in return and develop your business from scratch, but already different.

It is necessary to follow the trends in the development of society, their needs and statistical data about the people around you - in this case, you will know what to offer them, at what price and how much to limit the supply so that the demand for it remains.

Follow these simple conditions - and then the development of small business will go the right way and will stay afloat for a very long time. It is possible that you can establish a world-renowned company! Everything is in your hands - the main thing is not to let the initial ideas fade and not to be afraid to go forward!