Plumbing Africa August 2018 | Page 33

BUSINESS AND TRAINING 31 5 strategies for business growth Thinking about long-term growth for your business can fall by the wayside when you are focused on day-to-day operations. By Anja Smith It is worth carefully considering the pros and cons of the many different growth methods. Sometimes it seems like there isn’t any energy or time left after getting through the day’s jobs. Growing the company — whether strategic or incidental — becomes an afterthought. Many plumbing companies pride themselves on growing by word of mouth alone. That is something to be proud of for sure, but there is also a danger to this strategy. First off, it is leaving your business growth somewhat to chance. Second, it means that you might be leaving some good opportunities on the table. Not everyone’s goal is world domination, but without some intentional strategy, you may be stunting or killing your company by default. www.plumbingafrica.co.za On the other hand, when you get a little bit of success, it can become addictive. You feel the pride, stability, and prosperity that comes with running a successful small business and start to crave more. At this point, growth strategy becomes about reducing risk and using resources wisely. Growth strategies come in many different shapes and sizes. The first step in deciding how to grow is understanding your options. MARKET PENETRATION Market penetration considers how many people, of the currently available customers, are doing business with you. If there are 100 potential customers and you do business with 10 of them, you have a 10% market penetration rate. August 2018 Volume 24 I Number 6