Great businesses usually begin with great ideas. Whether it’s an innovative product or simply a smart way to address an underserved market, that initial flash of inspiration is invaluable for entrepreneurial success.
Having said that, great ideas alone do not great businesses make. The entrepreneurial landscape is crowded with companies premised on unique value propositions, and not all of those companies are well-positioned for the long haul.
Developing a strategy for long-term growth is key. Past the initial point of inspiration, a plan for strategic growth can help your company endure and thrive.
Tips for Effective Growth Planning
The question is, what does a healthy plan for entrepreneurial success actually look like? There are a few key ingredients.
Choose the Right Legal Structure
One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make about your business is the type of legal structure you’ll use. There are a number of great options, ranging from Sole Proprietorships to Partnerships, but the option that tends to work best for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners is the Limited Liability Company, or LLC.
LLCs offer personal liability protection and tax flexibility, but the benefits also include flexibility regarding your organizational structure and a relatively low administrative threshold. Simply put, the LLC format leaves you with plenty of room for your company to grow and evolve, which means LLCs can be adapted to almost any entrepreneurial strategy.
Be aware that LLC requirements can vary from state to state; so if you’re looking to start one in the Sunshine State, for instance, it might be wise to seek out .
Customer Feedback
Today’s customers desire a seamless, personalized experience with each product or service they purchase. For your business to succeed, you’ll need to constantly receive and implement feedback from your customers, fine-tuning your value proposition accordingly.
What this means is that every entrepreneurial strategy must have a mechanism in place not only to solicit customer feedback, but to collect, analyze, and act on it in an intentional and systematic way.
Acquisition & Retention
To ensure long-term success for your LLC, which is more important: , or turning your existing customers into repeat buyers and brand ambassadors?
It’s a trick question; of course, both are very important if you want your business to be sustainable. While new customer acquisition is an important way to build out your footprint, customer retention tends to be a more cost-effective way to juice your profit margins. Make sure your sales and marketing strategies strike a balance between these two poles.
Brand Distinction
Speaking of sales and marketing, one thing that’s vital for entrepreneurial success is a clear sense of what separates you from the pack. Consider this question: Why should customers choose you over the competition? It’s imperative that you have a clear answer to this question (or perhaps three to five bullet points you rattle off). This will be crucial for the story your marketing and sales professionals tell about the business.
It may be affordability, expertise, local roots, prompt service times, or eco-friendliness; whatever it is, be intentional in crafting your entrepreneurial strategy around these core distinctions.
Onboarding
As your LLC grows and evolves, you’ll naturally need to ramp up your staffing. To ensure an , you’ll need to ensure you have the infrastructure in place to onboard and train your employees as promptly as possible, getting them out into the field sooner rather than later.
Make sure your strategic plan includes provisions for expedient onboarding, including both the HR and necessary to position new hires for success.
Culture
Culture is a crucial part of entrepreneurial success, yet it’s not something that’s ever going to happen haphazardly. You can’t just hope that a good culture will arise; instead, you have to be intentional about it, articulating the values and vision around which you’ll align your team.
A written document, codifying your company culture, is a good start, but don’t just put it in a drawer somewhere. Review it regularly at team meetings, and ensure it’s prominently mentioned in your onboarding process.
Goals
All entrepreneurs desire success, but it’s amazing how few of them actually define what success looks like, or how they’ll measure it.
Make sure you set specific goals for your business, providing clarity about how and when you’ll celebrate a thriving business. Also make sure you identify the KPIs you’ll use to measure progress, whether that’s profits, conversions, or another metric entirely.
Create a Strategy for Lasting Success
Navigating the crowded entrepreneurial landscape requires a long-term strategy with plenty of built-in flexibility. As you think about a path forward toward a thriving LLC, make sure you take each of these different strategic considerations to heart.
Author Bio
Amanda E. Clark is a contributing writer to . She is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and holds degrees in Journalism, Political Science, and English. She became a professional writer in 2008 and has led marketing and advertising initiatives for several Fortune 500 companies. She has appeared as a subject matter expert on panels about content and social media marketing. She regularly leads seminars and training sessions on trends and tactics in professional writing.