Whether you’re just starting out or your business has been operating a while, growing that enterprise further is likely to be among your major priorities.

But when it comes to business growth, where should you start and what exactly should you be concentrating on?

Here are five things you should be doing to ensure your business growth. 

SWOT

SWOT is the acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and if you’re intent on growing your business, it’s an exercise you should be undertaking regularly.

A SWOT analysis sees you examine strengths and weaknesses within the business, and opportunities and threats which tend to extend beyond the enterprise and are influenced by external factors.

By regularly examining your business SWOT, you can quickly determine what’s working, what’s not and where there might be opportunities for growth.

Goal setting

Growth cannot just be an idle wish. It’s not something that happens on a wing and a prayer. If you’re planning on growing your business, you need to determine what you want your enterprise to look like and set goals and milestones that will help you get there.

These goals are then underpinned by strategies and activities that create action and propel you to where you want your business to be.

Planning

Just as goals underpin growth, so does planning. Your intentions for growth should be incorporated into your business plan and revised regularly.

When you actively plan for growth and incorporate it into your plan, you identify what needs to occur to achieve your ambition – whether it’s additional staff, an investment in extra infrastructure, more marketing etc.

Investing

On that note, growth requires an investment, and this is not limited to financial expenditure. Positioning your business for growth requires an investment of time and an investment of energy in addition to a probable investment of capital.

And for many business owners this is where the biggest challenge of creating growth arises. Finding the time and energy to work on your business, not just in it, takes discipline. But it’s an investment that can reap incredible dividends.

Sharing the vision

If you are planning on growing your business, it’s critical you share this vision with your team. 

When your team is included, it helps create ‘buy-in’ and ensures you are collectively working towards an established goal.

Perhaps more importantly, when your team knows where you want to go, they can be part of the planning and goal setting which allows you to achieve your aim.

In other words, everyone’s on the same page and pulling in the same direction.

Growth is never an accident

Growing your business rarely occurs by accident. It takes an investment of time, planning, strategy and vision to define opportunities for growth and create the activities required to achieve it.

But this investment is worth the effort. After all, there’s no time like the present to take your business to the next level.