There will be a number of readers of this post that feel that with so many perceived ways of growing your business they are unsure where to start.  Some will continue to be in the, “build it and they will come” approach, while others will sit by the phone or wait for an email from the next prospective client. 

To all of these people I hope that this blog provides some clarity.  

There are only two ways that you can grow your business – Scale or Replicate what you currently do or diversify by doing something different.

Replication or Scaling 

This is often perceived as the easier of the two options.  The following steps outline the methodology I use to succeed with this approach:

1. Identify your ideal client or customer
2. Analyse why they are the ideal customer – for example – do they requrie little time commitment, provide a high margin or return frequently?
3. Understand why they choose you.  What makes your offering so attractive to them?

🚨 CRITICALLY IMPORTANT – Don’t guess!   If you don’t know ask!  🚨

Once you have identified this ideal customer, sometimes called a customer persona or avatar, and understand their reason for using your product or service, ask yourself one last question:

How do I find more of these ideal customers?

Once you determine who and where they are, create a marketing campaign that promotes the problems that your product or service solves – the exact reasons your ideal customer chooses you.  

Bonus Tip: When you are talking with your ideal customer, ask them for a testimonial to include in the messaging.  Better yet, ask for referrals to other customers like them.

Diversification

So you have decided that you want to do something different – great!   

But now what?

At this point you look at the blank piece of paper in front of you, and keep looking at it, and keep looking at it, and keep looking at it, but the magical answer does not appear! 

What challenges are we dealing with?

1. Where to start? There are an infinite number of possibilities
2. Once I have a list of ideas, how do I choose the best one?
3. Cognitive Bias……… what the #$@%!

Cognitive Bias

Cognitive bias, in this case, refers to our natural tendency to favour the first idea that comes to mind.  If you make a list of 10 things – what to have for breakfast, what to do on the weekend, how to grow your business? You are more than 50% more likely to favour one of the first three suggestions

But is it the best idea? 

• Will they give you the energy for the day?
• Will it be the best activity for you?
• Will it create the growth that you need?  
• Will it provide the best return on investment in time or money?

If only there was a way to test these ideas…

Jim Collins, author of bestselling business books such as Good to Great and Great by Choice, has a great way to do just that – Bullets and Cannonballs!

Bullets and Cannonballs

Imagine two tall ships sailing across the oceans searching for their enemy. 

One morning, they spot a sail on the horizon – it’s the enemy.  The two ships prepare for battle.  

The first Captain orders, “Get me the big cannon, all the gunpowder and the biggest cannonball”.   The crew dutifully follow this instruction. 

“FIRE!” 

The huge cannon fires, and the massive cannonball flies toward the enemy ship.  

It looks promising –  until the last minute, when it misses to the right.  

The Captain shouts “Reload!” 

But the crew stand there – they have no more gunpowder. 

Meanwhile, the second Captain takes a different approach.  

He grabs a rifle, a small bullet and a pinch of gunpowder and fires.  

Miss! 10 degrees to the left.  

He reloads, fires again –

Miss! 5 degrees to the right.  

He fires again.

This time the bullet hits the enemy ship.  

Now he orders, “Get me the big cannon!” 

The second Captain has a much greater chance of success, as he has a calibrated line to the target.  

Applying Bullets and Cannonballs to Your Business

Now, let’s apply this concept to testing ideas for growing your business. 

Let’s look at your ideas.  

• Some will immediately stand out as weak – cross them off. 
• For the remaining ideas, map out how they would work and what you expect them to achieve.  
• You may eliminate a few more at this stage. 

Now ,it’s time to test – and here’s the key: test each idea individually. 

Start small:

• Dedicate 1hr and $100 to testing each idea individually.
• See what kind of growth each experiment produces.  
• Shortlist the most promising ones.
• Re-test on a larger scale – 1 full day and $500-$1,000 per idea.  

At the end of this test you have a well tested idea, which has a calibrated line to growth that is ready to scale.  

 Are you looking to grow your business?

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