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Should Your Small Business Have a Five-Year Growth Plan
A plan for the future helps you steer your business in the right direction. And a five-year business growth plan is a common tool used by new and existing companies. It helps maintain a sense of order as they move into the future. You can use your plan to guide decision-making. And it can also remind you of long-term goals that may be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of day-to-day operations.
Let’s look at how to build a strong five-year business growth plan and how to make sure it benefits your business as much as possible.
How do I Start Building my Five-Year Business Growth Plan?
Ideally, you made a five-year business growth plan before you opened your doors for the first time. In the months or years since, you occasionally reviewed and revised this document. Don’t feel discouraged if you haven’t kept up with your business plan – or never made one in the first place. Because the best time for you to start is right now. Taking the time to create your plan will pay off as time goes on.
Putting Together Your Plan
Building a five-year business growth plan involves a good understanding of your company’s current position and future goals. Business mentorship network SCORE outlined a six-step process:
1. Assess your company’s current state.
2. Set specific business goals for the future.
3. Determine your own goals as an owner for the same period.
4. Build a detailed plan that bridges the present day and your future goals.
5. Choose metrics to measure progress over time.
6. Check in by reviewing the plan, looking at metrics, and updating goals, if needed, every six months.
Putting this kind of framework in place helps you make a strong plan and follow through on it. You need to invest the time in creating your business growth plan early on and ensure you review your progress on a regular basis to make it truly effective.
Tips for a Powerful Five-Year Business Growth Plan
With an understanding of how to build a useful, practical growth plan under your belt, you can use this advice to fine tune it:
Choose a specific growth strategy
More sales are the foundation of growth, no matter your industry or market. Which approach to growing purchasing works best for your business and its goals? Inc. columnist Darren Dahl highlighted a variety of intensive growth strategies. Each strategy involves more risk than the next. Keep that factor in mind as you make your choice. These are just a few examples of the possibilities for your business:
• Market penetration: Selling more products or services to the same customers.
• Market development: Tapping into new markets to reach more potential customers.
• Alternative channels: Finding more ways to sell your offerings, like through your website.
Create an executive summary
An executive summary is vital if you plan to share your five-year business growth plan. If you want a lawyer or mentor to review it, for example, an executive summary can help them develop a high-level understanding before diving into the specifics.
Finding a Lending Partner to Help Fuel Business Growth
A five-year growth plan can position your business to thoughtfully and carefully develop its operations. It can even turn a side hustle into a successful business. Fueling that growth generally requires an infusion of funding.
QuickBridge is dedicated to helping small businesses access the funding they need for effective development. We’re here to help you access the funding that makes executing a growth plan possible. To learn more, get in touch with us today.
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