When a company’s growth appears to be slowing or reaching a plateau, it could indicate a bigger problem. However, it is how you approach the problem that can make or break your business.
To help, nine Council for Young Entrepreneurs members share their strategies to regain momentum in your business and explain why these strategies work so well to rekindle your growth.
Young Entrepreneur Council members share tips to regain growth momentum.
Photos courtesy of individual members.
1. Introduce a new service
A great strategy to regain sudden growth and momentum is to introduce a new service. It can be any type of service, such as personal delivery, one-to-one advice or a new technique. This can often jump-start a flat business and create excitement among your current customers, as well as attract new ones. Everyone will see it as a step towards growth and expansion. Adding a new service also creates a new promotion for your business on social media and other places, sparking talk and discussion. Be sure to offer an introductory price so people will sign up for your new service right away. Sometimes it’s best to offer it for a limited time so that people feel the immediate need to sign up. You can also reserve a limited number of places so people will want to sign up now to take advantage of it. – Baruch Labunskic, Rank Safe
2. Take the whole team to a conference
Conferences always give us new perspectives and the opportunity to meet new people, get new perspectives and learn new things. In addition, we see it as a way to do a team building activity and give our team a chance to see another country. After a few days, they can look at the company from the outside and come back with innovative ideas. I’ve been doing this for several years and it always works. The team always comes back after such a journey with at least one groundbreaking idea. – Alexandru Stan, tekpon
3. Check in to your team
Take a step back and evaluate the creative and mental health of your employees. I notice that there is a growth plateau when my employees experience burnout and as a result there is almost always a lack of creativity and momentum in the company. To solve a burnout, it can be helpful to give your employees a break or sprinkle in some team bonding activities. Maybe that’s an afternoon off or a team pizza party or happy hour. Whatever it is, your business can’t grow steadily if your employees aren’t happy and motivated to come to work every day. – John Hall, Calendar
4. Focus on leading well
When your business hits a growth plateau, you need to take action to restart your business growth. One way to do that is to focus on being a good leader who really works for success. As a good leader, you need to be someone who knows the exact market trends and customer demands. You need to start tracking and analyzing metrics and then start strategizing, investing, and executing based on your business needs. Identify the loopholes in your team and try to fix them, even if it means hiring new employees. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
5. Reassess Your Customer Segments
Your audience members all have unique goals, pain points, and needs, which is what you use to segment your leads. The point is that your customers’ needs can change over time and may change as new subscribers join your list. By reviewing your customer profiles and comparing them to how users feel during the plateau, you can create more engaging, personalized content for your audience. Used correctly, this strategy can help you cut back on stalling sales and grow your small business. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
6. Consider an acquisition strategy
If you have reached a growth plateau in your business, you can pursue growth through an acquisition strategy. Acquiring a competitor or other company in a similar industry can immediately increase your footprint and can also bring new talent and new ideas into your current operations. Often entrepreneurs are wary of the risks of buying another business, but usually it is much cheaper than long-term organic growth. – Jessica Fialkovich, output factor
7. Get an Outside Perspective
Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s happening in the game when you’re in the middle of the field. Ask someone not involved in your business to provide feedback on why your business has reached a plateau. This could mean hiring a consultant, talking to an old mentor, asking clients for feedback, or even hiring new people on the team. An outside and more objective perspective can help provide an unbiased assessment of what the problem is and how you can move the business forward. – Shu Saito, All filters
8. Boost your brand awareness
You can overcome a growth plateau by shifting your focus to increasing brand awareness. You have several options for deciding how to make this happen for your brand. You can optimize your content for search engines, connect with potential customers on social media, or even pay for ads on other well-known websites. Sometimes all you need to do to break through stagnant growth is to educate people who may not have heard of your company. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC
9. Restart stalled marketing initiatives
Sometimes a company needs to look inward at their marketing practices to drive growth. This is especially true if you feel like you’ve tried everything and exhausted all external options. Review your successes and failures from the past year and make the necessary changes. Are there initiatives that were promising but were never followed up? If so, maybe it’s time to give them another chance. The best solutions don’t have to be the most complicated. Your original marketing campaigns may not be as effective as they once were or you may not have been able to reach new markets. Evaluating what you have done in the past provides perspective on executing initiatives. – Tonika Bruce, Lead Beautiful, Inc.
