Growing a Business? Here are 5 Tips to Kickstart Your Growth

In the business world, you often find the terms ‘scaling a business’ and ‘growing a business’ used interchangeably. However, as we’ve discussed previously, growth vs. scaling are two different concepts. Very briefly, scaling a business is increasing revenue by making more of what you have, while growing a business is increasing revenue by adding more resources.

In this article, we’re going to focus on tips for growth — that is, how you can increase your revenue by adding capital, people and technology. We’ll also discuss why growing your business in a healthy and controlled way is so important and share some tried and tested tips to kickstart your growth.

Why is Growing a Business So Important?

Growth is the ultimate goal for all kinds of businesses, and rightly so. Managed carefully, business growth can expand your customer base, increase your market share and boost your profits. It can also make your business more secure, as it’s no longer reliant on a few core customers or at the mercy of its competitors.

Sustained growth also has less obvious benefits. Growing businesses tend to be more innovative, as they spend more time developing new products and services to sell to their customers. This can lead to diversification into other markets, helping to reduce any risks of going under as well as creating new opportunities.

However, as well as bringing plenty of benefits, growing a business can open it up to new risks. Ongoing growth is expensive — you need to hire and train new staff and invest in new technology and machinery to meet increasing demand. You also have to pump more money into your marketing and sales efforts to bring in more revenue.

Trying to grow too quickly can also be dangerous as you can be faced with costs that increase faster than your revenue. You may also take on too many new hires who don’t understand your business. The key here is to make sure that you control your growth and do it at a pace that allows the business to remain manageable and profitable.

How to Grow a Business

Now we know why growing a business is important and the opportunities and risks it can bring, here are a few strategies to help you get there. Although there’s no surefire route to growth, there are several things you can do to put your business on the right path.

1. Invest in Your Team

All businesses rely on their people but, when it comes to your growth, they can have a very different role to play. Professional services companies are an excellent example of businesses whose people are directly linked to their growth. Their revenue comes primarily from their people, so they have to hire more staff to grow.

Other businesses are less directly reliant on their people for growth, but still need strong teams to support them. For example, a SaaS provider does not directly generate revenue from its people, but it needs good people in marketing, customer service and HR roles to facilitate that growth.

Whichever camp you fit into, you need to find the right people and pay the going rate — and sometimes more — to get solid staff members who can keep your business on the right trajectory. But there’s a lot more to investing in people than simply paying them a good salary — you also need to focus on employee retention.

Employees who receive regular development and training opportunities are 34% more likely to stay than those who don’t. A study by Deloitte found that businesses with a strong learning culture are 92% more likely to develop new products and processes, and 56% more likely to be first to market with their products and services. Both of these are key drivers for growth.

You should also carefully think about your workspace. The right office space can create a happier, healthier and more productive team, and even become an important pillar of your company culture. Discuss the space with your team and ask them what they want out of an office space. After all, you ideally want as many of your staff members in the office as possible, in order to easily create a truly collaborative experience.

With this in mind, it’s important to look for an office space in a good location, that’s easy to get to for both employees and clients, and one that can help your business. Think about the office amenities available and even consider how the layout will benefit your teams.

2. Be Agile and Adaptable

One of the main reasons why growth rates stutter as businesses become larger is that they lose their ability to adapt to new opportunities and market conditions quickly. While small businesses can make decisions and switch directions in an instant, the rigid structure and protracted decision-making processes make larger businesses much less agile. And for small businesses, this is a tremendous advantage.

This is something we saw a lot of in the pandemic. With restrictions forcing some small businesses to close, many were able to adapt and pivot within the changing guidance to keep themselves afloat.

Agility allows businesses to rapidly adapt to changes in customer needs, new technology and shifts in the competitive landscape. To be agile, your business must be able to make decisions quickly and change the structure of your teams as your needs develop. Businesses that can do this can capitalise on new opportunities, avoid threats and position themselves for growth.

Read more: How to deal with uncertainty in business.

3. Keep A Close Eye on Your Finances

You might assume that rapid growth is a good thing, but growing too quickly can be just as dangerous as not growing at all. Cash flow mistakes are common amongst growing businesses and they are one of the leading reasons why small businesses fail. You can be so busy pumping money into the business to fuel growth that you don’t leave yourself with enough cash in the bank to pay your staff and suppliers.

It’s also easy to lose track of your finances as your business grows. As a startup, you’ll typically have a good command of your numbers and know how your expenses stack up against your sales. But as you grow, it becomes very difficult to keep track of your finances in the same way, as your outgoings will grow along with you.

Office space is just one outgoing that increases as your business grows. You may think that signing a long-term lease for your own office space is a sign of moving up in the business world, and you’d be right — to an extent. But these traditional leases can often be a hindrance to a growing business, thanks to expensive rent costs and bills, for a space that may not even be fully utilised.

Instead, growing businesses would do well to look at flexible office spaces. The short-term leases mean it’s easy to increase space as it’s needed when the business grows. This means you’re only paying for the space that is being used. These short-term leases can help you accommodate new staff and reduce the cost strain rapid growth can put on your business.

Read more: How flexible offices are helping tech startups grow.

4. Don't Underestimate the Importance of Networking Events

Some business owners consider networking events to be old-fashioned, while others don’t want to spend the time attending regular events. However, even with the multitude of digital and offline marketing techniques available to today’s small businesses, you should never underestimate the power of in-person networking events.

For smaller businesses, being able to connect with other business owners and meet prospective customers can help you form relationships that are beneficial for years to come. You can:

• Attend networking events in your area.
• Speak as an expert at industry events.
• Put up a booth to promote your business at a conference.

Some serviced offices even hold their own networking events where you can meet the other business owners in your building, share your expertise and build meaningful, lasting professional relationships.

5. Measure What Works

With so many different strategies you can use when growing your small business, you must take the time to measure what’s working and what’s not. Growth is typically measured in terms of revenue or bottom-line profitability, but these methods typically don’t give you any indication of what’s working and what’s not.

While profits are a key performance metric, there are also other measures of growth you can use, such as customer satisfaction rate and employee turnover, which might be more aligned with your goals. These more specific growth metrics will also help you identify which of your growth strategies are the most successful. You can then make changes and allocate your budget accordingly.

Growing Your Business with Knight Frank

At Knight Frank, we know the office market inside out and can help you find co-working, flexible and private office space on short-term leases. Just tell us what you're looking for and we'll use our expertise to find office space that matches your requirments. 

We’ll also arrange viewings and negotiate on your behalf to get you the best deal. And better still, our service is completely free. Get in touch to discuss your growth requirements with our team.