A business growth plan is an outline for where a company sees itself in the next one to two years. The growth plan should be formatted to follow along with each quarter. At the end of each quarter, the company can review what goals it met and what goals it missed during that period. At this point, management can revise the business growth plan to reflect current market standing.
Why are business growth plans important?
These are some of the many reasons why business growth plans are important:
- Market share and penetration. If your market share remains constant in a world where costs consistently increase, you’ll inevitably start recording losses instead of profits. Business growth plans help you avoid this scenario.
- Recouping early losses. Most companies lose far more than they earn in their early years. To recoup these losses, you’ll need to grow your company to a point where it can make enough revenue to pay off your debts.
- Future risk minimization. Growth plans matter for established businesses too. These companies can always stand to make their sales more efficient and thereby become more liquid. This liquidity can come in handy should you need money to cover unexpected problems.
What to include in a business growth plan
A business growth plan focuses specifically on expansion and how you’re going to achieve it. Creating a useful plan takes time, but the effort can pay off substantially by keeping your growth efforts on track. You should include these elements in your growth plan:
- A description of expansion opportunities
- Financial goals broken down by quarter and year
- A market plan of how you will achieve growth
- A financial plan to determine what capital is accessible during growth
- A breakdown of your company’s staffing needs and responsibilities