The Key To Sustainable Growth 

Unless you’re running a lifestyle business, it’s safe to assume that you want your company to grow. There are many ways to achieve growth, either by mergers and acquisitions, or organically by increasing your sales pipeline. Regardless of the path you choose, there will always be a significant risk on the horizon – your dependence on others.

Whether you’re sourcing products or components from a vendor, outsourcing services to a partner or reliant on specific legislation to support your business, you have to accept that these things are now out of your control, and therefore leave you vulnerable. It’s simple to put your head in the sand and think that because you’re using large or reputable companies nothing bad would ever happen to you. But you’d be wrong.

2e2

In 2013 the IT industry was shocked as 2e2 entered administration. From its inception, the company has a clear strategy to grow by acquisition, acquiring 15 companies over an 11-year period. But after breaching its banking covenant the company was in trouble; revenue fell by nearly £100m in just a year, it had a syndicated bank debt of £113.2m and eventually 946 staff were made redundant. The fall out was extensive, taking 2e2’s customers, partners and suppliers several months to recover.

Dell

In the IT industry, the main vendors run channel programmes designed to encourage partners to sell their products. However, despite the benefits on offer, being reliant on a big vendor can be risky business. AGJ Systems, a managed service provider with a 12-year Dell relationship, decided to go public about its experiences, stating that on several occasions Dell had contacted its customers directly to offer a better deal. Unfortunately, it’s not an uncommon experience; a study by CompTIA found that 6 out of 10 channel companies said conflicts had increased in the previous two years.

Feed-in tariffs (FiTs)

Under the 2008 Energy Act, the UK Government designed FiTs to encourage the uptake of a range of small-scale renewable and low-carbon electricity generation technologies. Taking effect in April 2010, the original tariff for solar photovoltaic (PV) was 41.3 pence/kWh. Britain saw a solar boom as UK start-ups and established European businesses took advantage of the lucrative opportunity. The FiTs were quickly cut, now paying just 4.39 pence/kWh, which left many companies bust.

How can you reduce your dependency on others to secure your sustainable growth?

Develop New Products & Services 

Extend your range by creating new products and services that are targeted at your existing markets. This could be secured through investment in research and development for additional products, acquiring the rights to produce someone else's product, white-labelling a product or embarking on a partnership where a product/service supplier needs access to your distribution channels or markets.

Enter New markets 

Expand into new markets, geographies or countries using your existing offerings. You can achieve this by targeting different customer segments in your existing industry, looking to foreign markets to replicate your home success, or by looking for other industries that share similar characteristics to the one you’re currently established in.

Create Powerful & Genuine Competitive Advantage and Differentiators

Creating true unique selling points (USPs) is difficult, which is why a lot of companies adopt slogans, such as “quality service, or “value for money”. Instead of setting you apart from the competition, these only serve to highlight your lack of having a real competitive advantage. We can work with you to identify and develop genuine and powerful differentiators that resonate with your target market.

Create an Agile Business model

Whether you’re a young ambitious start-up or an established SME, we can help you develop and implement powerful solutions specific to your business circumstances, budget and market sector. Together we can:

• Create strong and clear value propositions
   
• Develop growth acceleration strategies
   
• Create powerful competitive advantages
   
• Develop genuine business differentiators
   
• Develop professional business plan
   

​Contact us NOW to arrange your mini Business Assessment and secure your company's future.

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