Have you ever tried to teach a teenager how to drive a car? It takes some effort to logically outline the steps, right?  And then, you need to make sure that the way you explain the steps, makes sense in the context of their perspective of reality.  Of course, that’s because when we have been doing something for a long time your animal brain, have formed neural pathways which allows it to take over the task, allowing us to perform it without conscious thought. 

I’ve had a similar experienced over the past month. After more than 20 years of being in a variety of senior commercial and marketing roles, I asked myself: “What are the basic steps involved in making a business grow”.

You see, I have been doing this for a while, and in rather large, market-leading businesses, mostly in the telecoms industry. In every instance, I answered the call of which ever environment I found myself in, passionately pursuing the revenue growth target set before me.

My approach have been to take each challenge as a new one, and immerse myself fully in it, until I could see more clearly what is needed to make the specific thing grow. And then, of course, it became time to navigate the complexity and ambiguity of corporate processes and bureaucracy to get it done. But that’s not the story I am telling today.

The Four Question to Ask to Grow Your Business

So, as I pondered this question, I turned to some of the newer literature in business and marketing, refreshing my memory on the origin stories and case studies behind some of the principles that have become mainstream in nearly every business in recent years.  My reading list included topics such as Lean Start Up principles, Product-Led Growth and Growth Hacking to mention a few. 

And after I let it simmer for some time, I wanted to distil it for myself and for those I would serve next.  So, this is it.  It’s definitely not rocket science, or a perspective that will win awards, but nevertheless, I believe there is merit on going back to basics every so often.  

Question 1: “What” do you offer

This is more than the actual features of your product or service. What is the ultimate benefit that it promises to potential customers? How is it different to other products or services delivering the same functionality? What makes your product or service unique or special?

Question 2: “Who” are you targeting

Who is the sub-set of society that you are intend to serve beyond demographics and psychographics.  Can you understand with empathy their mindset, their pain points and frustrations? Do you know where your category fits into their lives? Is your mental model of how they engage your category still up to date?  Do you have buyer personas generated with empathy at the core, and validated through talking to real people?

Question 3: “How” will they know about you

If we think about this in the context of a real-life scenario, like for example a marriage proposal. In most instances, great thought would go into priming the recipient of the proposal, ensuring the perfect mood, a romantic setting, the right words and of course making sure that the ring is perfect. 

Taking your product or service to market should be given the same careful consideration.  How you consider your positioning, your messaging and go-to-market strategy should be so insightful and intuitive that it feels like an offer they have been waiting for. 

Question 4: What is your “Commercial Mechanism”.

This essentially refers to the system you will use to exchange the benefit you offer for revenue.  Is it a freemium model, a once-off charge, a subscription, a subscription with add-ons etc.? What are the underlying cost structures?  While this sounds straight forward there are many stories to be told about stillborn business that failed to find the right commercial mechanism that worked for them and their target customers.

How to Grow Your Business in the Messy Middle

Once you have defined your “what”, “who”, “how”, and “commercial mechanism”, it’s time to start executing on your plan. This is where the “messy middle” comes in.

The time between putting your plan into action and when you start to see consistent growth.  It’s a time of experimentation, learning, and pivoting. But most importantly it’s important to stay focused on your target customers and to continue to provide them with value. You should also be constantly measuring your results and making adjustments to your plan as needed.

In my experience it is in the messy middle relentlessly pushing towards your growth ambition that you build collective commercial acumen, and when it finally comes together and yields results, the reward is so much greater. 

If you need the help of an experienced Business and Marketing Strategist to guide you on this journey, I’d love to connect.