Welcome to
Growth & Search
FOR SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH
small business's struggle to optimise their full growth potential.
When an established small business struggles to sustain meaningful growth, it invariably means something is amiss or adrift with their business practices.
Working out and prioritising what activities will best serve a business’s growth goals and objectives in today’s dynamic technology-driven environment is a complex and challenging process even for the smartest of us.
That said in working out what growth activities your business should focus on, it is perhaps best to initially reflect upon what the empirical research consensus concludes as to the common reasons and underlying factors why established small businesses struggle to optimise their full growth potential namely;
- Lack of market orientation, knowledge, vision and ownership in driving and building a growth culture from leaders and management, resulting in a poor organisational commitment to supporting growth and change.
- The absence of a clearly defined growth strategy and plan, which leaves businesses vulnerable to fluctuations in the market and customer demand and a lack of direction which impacts employee morale and turnover.
- An inability to manage and optimise working capital and cash flow and explore different financing options, so as to fund and capture new growth opportunities.
- Poor to no market research and analysis leads to an inaccurate understanding of the target customers’ wants and needs.
- Poor to average marketing and execution, which leads to wastage, insufficient lead generation, poor conversion and increased costs of customer acquisition.
- An inability to ensure that resources and capabilities continue to provide value as the competitive and technology landscape changes.
- A failure to innovate, which leads to a perpetuation of outdated practices and processes that do not meet consumer expectations, lessens your future competitiveness and market relevance.
- Trying to do non-core specialist work in-house and failing to seek out and engage external help, leads to a stretched and stressed workforce, poorer outcomes and productivity and increased costs.
- Insufficient attention and investment in delivering great employee and customer experience, leading to loss of valued resources, customers, new business referrals and service consistency.
TO work out how to improve YOUR BUSINESS growth ?
It’s no secret that most small business owners feel like they need to improve one or more aspects of their growth.
Yet running a small business is hard enough as it is, let alone trying to find the time to further research, develop your knowledge, manage and implement ways to improve growth and determine what and who is reliable and compatible with your growth needs and objectives.
- You can engage a consultant, but the consulting process can be arduous and time-consuming, with the costs being high. Consultants often come without industry knowledge which means that you’ll largely depend on them for decisions while overlooking other people’s experiences within your own company; this is an inherent flaw in trying to source outside help when there are so many capable individuals right at hand!
- You can enrol yourself for further education, however the high cost and time commitment needed is a major barrier for many people. The outdated curriculum material, concepts and perspectives in modern-day classrooms often do not match what businesses need from their employees who work closely with clients on daily basis.
- Or you can as most do rely on casual referrals from friends or colleagues and/or endless trawling of advertising-driven search engines and marketplaces in the hope you get the information and solutions you need. All of which can be risky and provide limited assurance and comfort regarding the quality or compatibility of the solution that will truly best serve your growth challenges and needs.
Without this essential knowledge, however, you may be making decisions that are actually stunting and jeopardising your business’s growth potential.
So is there a better, more time efficient and cost effective approach and pathway to getting the information and solutions you need for generating greater growth?
the information and solutions you need to generate greater growth?
Imagine for a moment a growth services platform specifically designed for small businesses that provides everything you need with one easy-to-use application, that ;
*empowers you and your leadership team to own and work together on a preset- ready-to-go winning strategic growth plan with no upfront costs.
*ensures your business does not fall prey to the principle practice deficiencies that typically inhibit small business growth.
*enables you to readily uncover the strategic roadblocks and growth practice opportunities that exist within your current business operations.
*that provides objective guidance and one on one support, in helping you work out and validate the right-fit solution to your growth challenges.
*readily finds and matches your business to the local providers, experts and talent that will deliver the above-average performance outcomes needed to compete today.
*saves you time and money, reduces business risks, fosters organisational commitment towards supporting growth initiatives keeps you abreast of best practice changes.
Welcome to Growth & Search a membership-based growth services platform that is revolutionising how small businesses can build rapid growth and sustained market relevancy, all from one self-serving empowering destination.
GROWTH & SEARCH’S PRACTICE & SOLUTIONS FRAMEWORK.
DESIGN & HOW IT WORKS
At Growth & Search we have designed a proprietary growth practice & solutions framework to better enable small businesses to work out and prioritise the activities, solutions and specialist support they need to realise rapid improvements in growth and sustain their market relevancy. The platform is continually updated to reflect prevailing accepted best practices and solutions through our ongoing research with our business member , partner provider and sponsor communities.
The key elements of the design solution comprise :
1. A pre-configured market growth strategy that can be readily adopted, shared and actioned upon immediately without any upfront cost or complexity.
2. A structured practice knowledge bank which is strategic in its orientation and intent (not tactical – how to do ) informed by empirical evidence, field research and accepted best practices.
3. Functional tools for self-assessment and benchmarking of current competencies and behaviours, expert video insights , recommended calls to action and access to category expert concierge support in validating and finding best-fit solutions, be that with partner providers, subject matter experts, specialist consultants or talent.
OUR RECOMMENDED SEVEN-STEP PROCESS
1) Identify and define the growth pain-point /opportunity you wish to address and assess your organisation’s readiness to change.
Try to see if there is consensus with others on the problem or issue and get early stakeholder engagement to support your initiative. Select an issue that is likely to give you an early win, and find the low-hanging fruit initially.
2) Select the related strategy module that pertains to your issue. Start by reviewing your past & recent history and complete the high-level self-assessment check questionnaire ( share with your peers ) to give you a quick sense of what may be missing. You may also wish to delve deeper and request an external audit to uncover the full picture of the status quo.
3) Benchmark your current practices to the Best Practice Checklist – this will also provide you with a gap analysis around the key best practices that well-run businesses have in place to optimise their growth.
4) View our collective of videos from world-leading experts and blog articles to further support your thinking and decision-making.
5) Consider recommended calls to action and solutions that relate to the practice module you are working on, and request further information, and objective guidance if required from Growth & Search.
6) Prepare an action plan- and engage Growth & Search’s concierge service to search & select for best-of-breed solution providers and/or talent if required.
7) Execute, monitor and report.
THE PLATFORM’S CENTRAL GROWTH STRATEGY
The platform’s central strategy for growth is focused on the mastering and maintaining of best practices across seven key strategy levers.
Each of which has been selected for their potential to rapidly shift the growth dial when well adopted, their alignment to addressing the common growth inhibitors of small businesses and their relevancy to prevailing challenges in the market.
We call them collectively ‘Growth’s Magnificent Seven ‘
‘ GROWTH’S MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ‘ TM
As any business leader knows, growth is essential for the long-term success of any company. But achieving sustained growth can be difficult, as it requires constantly adapting to the ever-changing marketplace. That’s why it’s so important to have a growth mindset and leadership team in place. With a growth mindset, you’re always looking for ways to improve and grow your business. And with a strong leadership team, you have the vision and expertise in place to make that happen. By combining a growth mindset with strong leadership, you can set your business up for success now and into the future.
Optimizing working capital is a key factor in driving growth and profitability for any business. By effectively managing cash flow and other assets, businesses can ensure that they have the funds needed to invest in new opportunities and take advantage of emerging trends. Additionally, improving working capital management can help to reduce expenses and free up valuable resources for other purposes. From maintaining strong relationships with suppliers to building effective cash forecasting models, there are many strategies that companies can use to improve their working capital management. Ultimately, optimizing working capital is essential for ensuring long-term growth and success in today’s competitive business landscape.
As any business owner knows, growth is essential to the success of any company. Without a steady increase in revenue and customers, businesses quickly stagnate and begin to decline. There are many different factors that contribute to business growth, but one of the most important is market analysis. By taking the time to understand the needs and wants of your target market, you can develop products and services that meet their needs and generate significant profits. Additionally, market analysis can help you to identify new opportunities for growth and expansion. By constantly monitoring the marketplace and keeping up with industry trends, you can ensure that your business is always positioned for success. In short, market analysis is critical to business growth because it provides the insights needed to make informed decisions about product development, marketing, and expansion.
Many businesses focus on growth tactics without first developing a clear strategy. This can lead to wasted time and resources as businesses pursue goals that are not aligned with their strengths or the needs of the market. A well-crafted growth strategy takes into account the unique strengths of the business, its competitive environment, and the targets it is seeking to reach. Without a clear strategy, businesses may find themselves chasing after opportunities that are not viable in the long term. By developing a comprehensive growth strategy, businesses can set themselves up for success and avoid many of the pitfalls that can stymie growth.Strategy is important for businesses to consider when planning for growth. To be successful, businesses need to identify their target markets and develop plans to reach these markets. Additionally, they need to have a clear understanding of their competitive landscape and what they can do to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Lastly, they need to have a solid financial plan in place to ensure that they have the resources necessary to execute their growth strategy. By taking the time to develop and implement a comprehensive growth strategy, businesses can increase their chances of achieving sustained growth.Many businesses growth strategies focus on expanding their customer base or increasing the frequency of purchases made by current customers. While these are certainly important factors in driving growth, they are not the only things to consider. Another crucial element of business growth is pricing strategy. The right pricing strategy can help you to maximize profits and reach new markets. For example, if you are selling a product that has a high margins, you may be able to increase your prices and still maintain a healthy level of sales. On the other hand, if your margins are low, you may need to offer discounts or promotions to spur demand. The key is to carefully analyze your costs and find a pricing strategy that works for your business. By taking into account all of the factors that affect growth, you can develop a comprehensive plan that will help your business thrive.
The relationship between planning and growth is a complex one. On the one hand, planning is essential for setting goals and milestones that need to be achieved in order for a business to grow. Without a plan, it can be difficult to measure progress and assess whether or not growth is actually taking place. On the other hand, too much planning can stifle creativity and innovation, which are also essential for driving growth. The best approach is usually to strike a balance between the two, ensuring that there is enough structure in place to facilitate growth while also leaving room for new ideas and unconventional thinking.Business leaders and strategists often talk about the importance of growth. But what exactly is growth, and how can businesses achieve it? One way to think about growth is as an increase in the rate of expansion for a company. This could involve expanding into new markets, developing new products or services, or increasing efficiency and productivity. However, simply pursuing growth for its own sake is not enough. Businesses need to have a clear plan for how they will achieve growth, and this plan needs to be based on a detailed understanding of the market and the company’s strengths and weaknesses. Without a well-designed plan, businesses are likely to miss opportunities or make costly mistakes. Therefore, planning is essential for generating growth in any organization.As anyone who has ever tried to start a business knows, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to bring an idea to fruition. But simply working hard is not enough – businesses also need to have a clear plan in order to achieve success. A well-crafted business plan provides a roadmap for growth, outlining the steps that need to be taken in order to achieve specific goals. Without a plan, it is all too easy to get sidetracked or make avoidable mistakes. A good plan will take into account the resources that are available, the competition that needs to be faced, and the target market that needs to be reached. By taking the time to develop a comprehensive plan, businesses can increase their chances of achieving sustained growth.
There are many factors that contribute to business growth, and brand strategy is one of them. A strong brand can help a company attract new customers, retain existing ones, and differentiate itself from competitors. Furthermore, a well-crafted brand strategy can help build customer loyalty and create an emotional connection with consumers. In today’s overcrowded marketplace, these are vital ingredients for success. While there are no guarantees in business, a sound brand strategy is one of the best waysto give your company a fighting chance at achieving long-term growth.
To achieve growth, businesses need to be strategic about their brand. A strong brand strategy helps businesses to define their identity, communicate their value proposition, and differentiate themselves from the competition. It also helps businesses to build customer loyalty and drive word-of-mouth marketing. In other words, a well-crafted brand strategy is essential for achieving growth.
There are a number of factors to consider when developing a brand strategy. First, businesses need to clearly define their target market. They also need to identify their unique selling proposition, or what sets them apart from their competitors. Once these foundation pieces are in place, businesses can begin to develop messaging and positioning that will resonate with their target market. Additionally, they need to create attractive and consistent branding across all channels. By doing all of this, businesses can set themselves up for success and lay the groundwork for sustainable growth.A company’s brand is its most valuable asset, and a well-defined brand strategy is the key to unlocking growth. Your brand is the promise you make to your customers, and it needs to be carefully crafted to reflect your company’s unique value proposition. A strong brand differentiates you from your competitors and helps you charge a premium price for your products or services. It also creates loyalty among your customer base, which leads to repeat purchases and referrals. In order to create a successful brand strategy, you need to start by defining your target market and understanding what they want and need from your product or service. From there, you can develop a positioning statement and visual identity that will resonate with your target audience. If executed correctly, a sound brand strategy will fuel growth and help you achieve long-term success.
Marketing effectiveness is important to business growth for a number of reasons. First, effective marketing helps to increase sales and revenue. This, in turn, allows businesses to reinvest in their products or services, as well as expand their operations. Additionally, effective marketing helps businesses to build and maintain a positive reputation. In today’s competitive marketplace, consumers have a wide range of choices, and they often base their purchase decisions on the perceptions they have of a company. Finally, effective marketing helps businesses to attract and retain the best talent. In order to attract top talent, businesses need to be able to market themselves effectively to potential employees. Marketing effectiveness is thus crucial to business growth and success.
As any business owner knows, outsourcing is a crucial part of growth. By partnering with an experienced and reputable outsourcer, you can save time and money while still getting the high-quality results you need. However, it’s important to choose your partners carefully and monitor their performance closely. Otherwise, you risk ending up with subpar results or paying more than you need to. Improving the selection of outsource partners and their performance is therefore essential to ensuring continued growth for your business. By taking the time to find the right partners and hold them accountable for results, you can ensure that your business continues to thrive.
The process of finding and hiring employees is a crucial one for any business. Not only is it important to find individuals with the skills and experience necessary to do the job, but it is also essential to ensure that they are a good fit for the company culture. Furthermore, timing is also an important factor. Hiring too many employees can lead to overstaffing, while hiring too few can result in excessive workloads. Therefore, businesses need to carefully consider their staffing needs in order to ensure that they are getting the right people, in the right jobs, and at the right time.The notion of ‘the right people for the job’ has been around for centuries. The ancient Greeks believed that each person had a specific role to play in society, and that it was important to match the right person with the right job. This belief was echoed in medieval Europe, where the guild system ensured that people received training in a particular trade before being allowed to practice it. The Industrial Revolution saw a shift away from this specialized approach, as mass production necessitated a division of labor. However, the idea that certain people are better suited to certain jobs remains prevalent today. In a rapidly changing economy, it is more important than ever to match the right people with the right jobs. With the advent of new technologies and the rise of the gig economy, businesses must be nimble in order to stay competitive. They need to be able to quickly identify the skills that are needed for each position and match them with the employees who have those skills. Getting the right people into the right jobs at the right time is essential for any organization that wants to succeed.
In today’s business world, the phrase “human resources” has taken on a whole new meaning. No longer are human resources simply responsible for hiring and firing employees. Instead, they play a vital role in ensuring that businesses have the right people in the right jobs at the right time.
The first step in achieving this is to understand the specific needs of the business. What kinds of skills and experience are required for each position? What are the company’s goals and how can each employee contribute to achieving them? Once this needs assessment is complete, human resources can begin to source candidates who have the necessary skills and qualifications.
It is also important to consider the company culture when making hiring decisions. After all, a good fit between an employee and the company culture is essential for long-term success. Therefore, human resources must take into account an applicant’s values, personality and work style when making hiring decisions.
Finally, human resources must always be aware of changes in the business environment and how they might impact the workforce. For example, if there is a shift in customer demand, businesses will need to ensure that they have the correct mix of employees to meet this demand. By staying attuned to these changes, human resources
Organizational design is important to growth because it helps companies create a structure that supports their goals and objectives. Without a well-designed organization, companies may find themselves struggling to achieve their goals or achieving them at a much slower rate. Furthermore, poor organizational design can lead to communication problems, which can hinder progress. By creating a clear and concise organizational design, companies can ensure that everyone understands the company’s goals and how they fit into the overall structure. This way, everyone can work together efficiently to achieve the company’s objectives. In short, organizational design is essential to growth because it helps companies create a structure that supports their goals and objectives.
Innovation is essential to the growth of any business or organization. Without new ideas and creative solutions, businesses can get stuck in a rut, failing to keep up with the ever-changing needs and preferences of their customers. Innovation also enables businesses to expand into new markets and reach new audiences. Moreover, by staying on the cutting edge of technological advancements, companies can continue to improve existing products and services as well as develop exciting new offerings. Ultimately, innovation is one of the key drivers of long-term success in any industry, helping companies to stay competitive in an ever-changing global marketplace.
In a rapidly changing business environment, agility is essential for success. Being able to quickly adapt to new market conditions, customer needs, and competitor strategies is essential for long-term growth. That’s why businesses need to be agile – able to rapidly respond to change. Agility enables businesses to seize opportunities as they arise, and avoid being caught off-guard by sudden shifts in the market. It also allows businesses to experiment and innovation, without being hamstrung by rigid processes and inflexible structures. In today’s dynamic business environment, agility is a key ingredient for growth. without it, businesses will struggle to survive.
Deliver Great Employee & Customer Experience.
Delivering great employee and customer experience is essential for driving growth in any business. Whether you’re running a small start-up or a multinational corporation, it’s critical that you nurture and maintain positive relationships with your employees and customers. Not only does this ensure that your customers are getting the high-quality support they need, but it also ensures that they feel valued and appreciated. Furthermore, happy employees are more productive and engaged, which can help to boost overall operational efficiency. By prioritizing well-being among your team and ensuring that everyone feels supported and respected, you will set your business up for success now and into the future. With this focus on delivering great employee and customer experience, you can be sure that your organization will grow both today and tomorrow.
Delivering great customer experience is critical to long-term growth and success in any industry. This is because customers are at the heart of any business, and providing them with an excellent experience directly impacts their satisfaction and loyalty. A positive customer experience can help to increase word-of-mouth referrals, drive sales, and improve brand reputation. Additionally, by positioning the company as a leader in its field, a strong focus on providing top-notch service will help attract new customers and keep existing ones coming back for more. Overall, delivering great customer experience is key to a thriving business that is poised for continued growth in the years ahead.
your growth improvement starts with diagnosis
take a deeper dive to find out what’s really going on ?
Conducting periodic reviews of your business practices is an essential low-cost way to drive business growth improvement for any business.
Growth & Search provides its members with a range of diagnostic tools and services as denoted below to help you take a deeper dive to uncover the opportunities for growth.
COMPLETE A QUICK SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNIARE.
To help you get started with a general sense of how your business stacks up to accepted best growth practices across ‘Growth’s Magnificent Seven’ TM and what may be missing or adrift take 5 mins to complete our simple 20 questions self-assessment below.
Click here to complete your self assessment strategic growth questionnaire >
COMMISSION A STRATEGIC HEATH CHECK AUDIT.
For a more comprehensive insight and independent assessment into where the deficiencies and opportunities for growth improvement reside across Growth’s Magnificent Seven TM registered members can consider commissioning a Strategic Health Check .
COMMISSION AN EXTERNAL SPECIALIST AUDIT OR WORKSHOP FACILITATION.
If you have already identified your growth problem and have need to engage an external specialist auditor or work through a resolution and action plan or start a new project initiative why not consider running an expert lead and facilitated workshop.
Click here to learn more >
working out what to do is one thing , finding the right solution IS the other.
let OUR category expert CONCIERGE SEARCH team do the heavy lifting for you.
Working out what activities and actions will best serve your growth goals and objectives is vitally important but equally so is your ability to objectively find the appropriate solutions and skilled resources to optimise the execution of your growth initiatives. Most companies try to do all of this themselves, or they rely on casual referrals from friends or colleagues or advertising-driven search engines and marketplaces. All of which can be risky and provide limited assurance and comfort regarding the quality or compatibility of the solution that will truly best serve your growth challenges and needs.
Finding a solution provider or talent is easy, finding the right one is not so, it takes rigour and discipline and knowing your category space. To ensure that the work gets done right, we have a team of category search specialists who can save you time, and money and find and source the expertise and solutions your business needs be that in technology , marketing , people , customer experience , leadership, research and planning, capital management and/or organisational design. Our category expertise reduces your selection risk and is unparalleled in this industry so when it’s time to make sure your growth projects come together effortlessly without hiccups or headaches – call or send a short brief to our Concierge Search desk.
Register your business membership today.
SPECIAL OFFER FOR NEW BUSINESS MEMBER REGISTERING BEFORE 31st JULY, 2022.
Receive a free no obligation STRATEGIC GROWTH HEALTH CHECK & AUDIT for your business ( normally charged out at AUD $750 ) > to learn more click here
- You will access free objective guidance on validating and finding your best-fit growth solutions, save time and reduce your selection risks.
- You will have greater self enablement to drive and influence positive growth and reduce your reliance in strategic consultancy and the related costs.
- You will join a membership base community of local business owners and leaders where you can meet and share growth knowledge.
- Readily uncover the operational and strategic roadblocks that inhibit your true growth potential.
- Readily master the fundamental strategies for leveraging growth and sustaining market relevancy.
- Discover hidden and unknown growth opportunities to exploit and stay informed and updated on evolving best growth practices .
- Rapidly and objectively find and source the best fit external service providers and talent needed to ensure excellence in project execution and performance outcomes.
Business owners , c-suite , md’s and leaders that share strategic growth responsibility and ;
- Work in established ( 2yrs + ) small & medium businesses with turnovers between AUD $1m & AUD $10m and employ between 10 to 100 full time employees .
- Are actively considering, exploring opportunities or re-evaluating how to realise increase market share and growth.
- Are dissatisfied with their current growth rate and/or performance service of outsource providers.
- This platform is inappropriate for start up / micro ( <5 fte ) and enterprise businesses ( > 200 fte )
Our Vision : Is to become the trusted default growth knowledge and services platform destination for small and medium businesses across Australia & NZ.
Our Values:
We place the customer front and center in our design and service.
We center our decisions and recommendations on value not price.
We will always maintain a humanistic approach to service delivery.
We continually strive for greater simplicity and transparency.
We promote whenever possible, independent small to medium local-based specialist growth providers.
We support open internet and WEB 3 and seek to decentralise control and ownership of the platform to our membership in 2024.
- We are committed to freely sharing and systemising the very best growth knowledge, practices and solutions to small & medium businesses across Australia.
- Our product solution can be instantly deployed with no upfront cost and deployed and managed individually or across your growth leadership team.
- We are not an agency, consultancy nor a marketplace, but a membership growth platform that provides truly objective guidance and support.
- We provide you with a personal concierge contact to support you in validating and finding the right solutions, providers and talent you need.
- We adopt a selective specialist approach to our supply chain to maintain quality and reduce risk.
- We apply rigor and discipline to the process of search & shortlisting for best fit solutions for our members.
- We are committed to decentralising control and ownership of the platform to our members by 2024.