Business growth takes study, talent, planning

Here are some strategies to help you break through some of the common barriers that many small businesses experience, from SBA.gov community moderator Caron Beesley.

• Watch the indicators for growth. First, look at key indicators: Study your pipeline, conversion rates and market trends in dashboard form every day. Measuring it helps you manage it.

• Keep one eye on your competition, but always think big picture. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, reviewed quarterly, can help you determine where you fit in relation to your competitors. Find out how your customers view your business and your competitors. Look for ways such as speed, quality or price to make your product or service stand out from the competition.

• Constantly recruit superstar talent. Even if you can’t afford key hires right now, keep looking for talent and bring them on part time, on a contract or hourly basis. Another option to help guide your growth is to work with an organization like SCORE that provides free business mentoring services.

• Constantly assess risk. Look ahead — what variables could occur that might compromise or damage your growth plans? These could be supply chain issues, hiring and training problems, competitive activity, cash flow or patent infringements.

• The bottom line: Never embark on a growth strategy without a plan — have a strategic plan that contains your market findings and targets where you are and where you want to be. Assemble a day-to-day operations plan, a hiring plan and a marketing plan, each of which lay out the tactics to accomplish your strategy.

You can find SCORE’s business-Plan template at bit.ly/1abSOZm;  the Small Business Administration offers a series of articles on the components of a business plan at 1.usa.gov/15qPiIZ