5 tips to boost your business growth

1. Adapt the activity to the market

Markets and consumers are evolving at a frenetic pace, making it essential for businesses to remain agile. Many SMEs find themselves struggling because they are unwilling or unsure how to adapt their business model to the market. It’s important to be able to develop new products or services, discontinue others, and adapt the way they are distributed. This means constantly monitoring new consumer demands, monitoring competitive activity, and scrutinizing your own company’s sales to determine the right strategy.

2. Use digital technology effectively

A formidable growth lever in a transforming economy, digital technology comes with a range of tools that allow a company to gain notoriety and increase its sales. Be careful, however: your digital strategy must be a differentiator from your competitors and be built with ROI (return on investment) in mind. Copying another company’s digital actions without considering its own target audience and brand identity is a common mistake.

3. Rely on participatory innovation

Participatory innovation, or open innovation, is gaining momentum, particularly in B2B. This involves involving customers and suppliers in the development of new, innovative, and more efficient processes or products. By involving all stakeholders involved in the final innovation, it will be easier to meet customer expectations.

4. Build a social, solidarity and/or environmental strategy

Employees, suppliers, and customers are increasingly seeking meaning, values, and commitment. As a result, you can stand out in several areas. From a tax perspective, by benefiting from tax deductions/exemptions on donations, and from a managerial perspective, with more efficient and motivated employees if they are proud of the commitment made by their company. Finally, from a communications perspective, a company that takes a stand and supports associations opens itself up to new, extremely effective, and most often free, communication channels. Not to mention the positive image the company will project to its various audiences.

5. Adapt your management

Market saturation and economic difficulties are also affecting employees, whose mindsets are evolving. Today, it has been proven that greater empathy, agility, flexibility, modernity, and involvement are often the keys to more effective management, leading to increased productivity.

Knowing how to manage the pace of growth

Companies with high growth potential aren’t just found in technology. Often, they begin with organizations whose founders and leaders are visionaries who anticipate or create needs for consumers and businesses. When you offer something that makes people’s lives easier, helps them solve a problem, or spend more quality time with their loved ones, the potential is there. However, you need the means to match your ambitions, and too rapid a pace can trap the company. One of the risks associated with sudden growth is not being able to meet your commitments and deliver the goods.

To create the conditions for success, it’s best to know your strengths, hire people with complementary expertise, and surround yourself with trusted professionals who are experienced in completing transactions or supporting entrepreneurs in such projects. This planning allows you to compare different possible scenarios and then prioritize them. “Don’t hesitate to discuss your goals and ambitions with your account manager to benefit from their experience and support in your growth projects,” suggests Chantal Durocher, Director of Sales and Business Development at Desjardins Business.