Here’s how to achieve growth that lasts

Focus on delighting your customers

During our recent live Q&A, the panel agreed that being obsessed by delivering the best customer experience was a sure-fire way to ensure the survival and growth of your business. To do this, Virginie Charles-Dear, founder of toucanBox said it was necessary to truly understand your audience. “What do they want?” she said. “Where do they shop? Why are they using your product?”

Author Royston Guest agreed: “Master this strategy and you will retain customers. They will become your proactive sales force, telling your friends and colleagues about what you do.”

It is your customers who will also tell you if you’re growing too fast. Julien Callède, co-founder of Made.com, said: “A great and improving reputation is always more important than great sales growth numbers.”

Guest added that if you want to grow custom you need to know how that will affect each part of your business. “If you grow sales, what is the impact on operations? If you drive leads through marketing, does sales have the capacity to follow the new opportunities up in a timely fashion?”

Build an outstanding team

Entrepreneurs should “be thoughtful about everything [they] do,” said Renée Elliot, founder of organic supermarket chain Planet Organic. She said the priority should be “creating teams that were well trained and treated with respect.”

Charles-Dear added that hiring outstanding people is one of the best ways to ensure success. But when is the right time for an entrepreneur to start recruiting?

Dave Hobday, managing director of Worldpay, said when to hire depends on how much the business has grown, including your funding and ambitions. He added: “Finding your first recruit or two is critical – you need to have people with you that share your values and views.”

Business coach Adèle McLay added: “At the start of the entrepreneurial journey the founder(s) are doing everything for quite a while – that’s normal. It’s only when a role becomes ‘mission critical’ to the business should [someone be recruited to fill it].” Before then, she said, there are other ways to find the resource you need, such as hiring freelance consultants in HR, marketing and finance.

Develop a great product, but don’t be afraid to change

As a small business, one of your greatest strengths is your agility, compared to larger bureaucratic institutions. Callède said entrepreneurs should believe in their product, but not be afraid to innovate. “Growth that lasts comes from [having] a great product – [one] that answers customers’ needs, and satisfies them to the extent of their aspirations, if not more.

“[But] don’t be afraid of changing your business model. Embrace change and believe in yourself. Test, learn and iterate is the holy grail for young businesses.”

If your business’s growth is stunted, go back to basics and look at how many customers you’re winning, and keeping. Guest said: “What tends to happen for a number of SMEs at the three- to five-year mark is new business acquisition is compensating for what they are losing through the back door of their business, so there’s no growth at the end of the year.”

“Ask yourself, what is your current retention rate like? Do you have specific strategies in place to maximise the value of existing relationships? What targeted acquisition of new customers do you need to do?.”

Only take investment if you need it

Many entrepreneurs will feel the pressure to grow their business quickly and may take on external investment to do so. But the panel warned against doing so for the sake of it.

Elliot said: “If you’re happy to move forward naturally, then run with that. If you’re not in a hurry and not suffering from cashflow problems, it’s better to own your business 100%.”

Others reiterated that any growth strategy always has to have reasoning behind it, be it a gap in the market that you can fulfil, or a new market where you can create demand. Growth isn’t automatically for everyone, said Guest, adding: “I have seen a number of businesses who have doubled in size quickly and actually make less profit than they did when they were half the size.”

Be inspired

Rob Bence, founder of RMP Property and the Property Hub, said it’s no bad thing to take inspiration from elsewhere. “Look at the best practices from all sectors and use their methods to improve your business ... Be inspired by companies that offer the best service, deliver the best marketing, have the best systems. Take bits from each one and you’ll set a new standard in your sector.”

A mentor can also provide support and inspiration when you need it. Tim Campbell, founder of the Bright Ideas Trust and winner of the first series of the Apprentice, said: “Get an adviser who has been there and got the T-shirt (aka scars) to prove it, to offer advice and guidance when you reach the point of ‘What the hell do I do now?’”

Finally, McLay encouraged entrepreneurs to stay true to who they are and never stop striving for success. “Be clear about why you and your business does what it does for your customers.”

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