PRODUCTS, BUSINESS GROWTH & THE PEOPLE FACTOR
How do you measure growth as a business, brand, or entrepreneur?
Does increasing your product or service offerings equate to business growth or development? Well, the answer is no.
Different businesses have different success metrics based on their goals. What indicates success for another business may not be the same for yours because you both differ in your visions, missions, goals and objectives, values and mode of operation.
However, regardless of the kind or nature of any organization, success is ideally always a two-way street or event. That is; the people and the business.
Every true organization is established to serve; a people, a cause, a purpose, etc. in a way and manner that benefits all involved parties and the environment.
When this service mindset is at the heart of business operations, organizations will become detailed and mindful enough in finding the best or improved ways to heighten value and service for their target audience every time. This speaks more to optimizing value at every phase first. If optimization can be achieved, this in itself is a level of organizational growth.
Primarily, I’m of the opinion that when an organization is clear enough; in terms of its WHY, WHAT, HOW, and WHO? When it comes to adherence to values, and working systems, growth is almost, naturally organic. And so, such organizations will also be adequately prepared and positioned for externally-induced opportunities, growth and expansion.
We communicate with people through brand communications and marketing efforts. We engage with people through customer support, town hall meetings, etc. We manage the expectations of stakeholders, as well as liaise with and manage cross-functional teams often. Imagine the outcomes that’d ensue from failing at these alone.
If we are not good with the people aspect of business, we may as well be out of business. Being deliberate about communicating, managing, serving, and prioritizing people should be an everyday practice. Organizations may not be wanting in technical or operational proficiency but rank high in people gaps.
By people, in this context, we’re referring to these categories:
1. The stakeholders
2. The team
3. The customers/clients
4. The users
5. General community
Typically, stakeholders include everyone that is important to the success of your product or service. But in this scenario, we’d focus on sponsors, investors, business owners, key partners, key decision makers, etc., even though everyone in the people spectrum contribute significantly to the success of a product or organization. However, key stakeholders are mostly those to whom we are answerable, liable, and most importantly, accountable to.
The team can either be immediate or cross functional. A fair approach to this might be to have SMART people goals by asking yourself as a leader, “what kind of outcomes do I want from or for my team and how do I achieve them?” Answering this question will likely help you to create a mental picture of what you want, what is possible, and what is realizable for the team or organization in different areas. For instance, you can ask yourself these questions with regards to a key area like; do I want my team to be and feel empowered for their roles? Do I want a ‘say it as it is’ team or a clammed-up team? What kind of leadership style do I want? Is it a top-down relationship/mode of interaction or flat and open interaction? What about management style? Do I want ‘co-solutioning’, co-creation, or be seen as the one always with the most superior solutions or ideas?
Now to the customer. Peter Drucker in his 1973 work ; The Practice of Management, opined that a business has only one purpose: to create customers. Similarly, Amazon CFO, Tom Szkutak, once said that, “we believe putting customers first is the only way to create lasting value for shareholders.”
So most times, any form of improvement begins with LISTENING to your customers — internal and external. Feedback mechanisms cannot be overlooked or treated with levity. In fact, brands should put in place several avenues for getting feedback. This is because there’s little to zero chance of success if listening, most importantly to your clients/customers and/or users is out of the equation. No matter how grand and ideal an organization’s objectives are, they still have to align with their audiences’ (whoever they may be; internal or external) needs and definition of VALUE . This speaks not just to seeking to meet or address those needs but also being able to communicate and translate that value through your audience’s lenses.
It is in listening that we know what needs to be improved, removed or refactored. It is in listening that we know what new value can or should be made available. It is in listening that we understand, aggregate pain points with the intent to provide solutions at strategic touchpoints.
It is easier to project, measure and machinate growth. Diversification, however, requires some greater depth of knowledge and analysis as it’d be impulsive to simply delve into extending value chain at the slightest whim or for obvious, peripheral demands. Growth, be it in the short term or long term can be stimulated by some value-add but not necessarily by expanding value-chain. We cannot but ensure we have done due diligence in terms of research, consultation, quality thinking, and putting together all of the raw materials that can be catalyzed for the next level.
First of all, we need to realize that whatever we do as businesses is largely all about adding value to others; people or their businesses, etc. With this in mind, the concept of ‘growth’ is perceived in the right perspective. Business is primarily all about adding value to others and being rewarded for it.
While we put a lot into business ideation, establishment, customer acquisition, etc. we cannot over-emphasize the importance of customer retention and expansion. Customer base growth is not far fetched when we have taken care of all the intricacies that make up what I call the Product Launch Mesh.
Business growth and expansion are closer than we envisage when we have a balanced mix of product development, strategy, and people efforts.
What are your thoughts on business growth? Do share in comments too.
