How to achieve growth targets: A step-by-step guide for businesses

 

What are growth targets?

Growth goals are specific goals that a company sets to increase its turnover, improve its market share, expand into new markets or improve its products and services. Growth goals can be more visionary and overarching than strategic goals. For example, a growth goal could be "Become the best hamburger in town" or "Conquer the Nordic market within three years".

Define growth goals

For growth goals to be effective, they must be inspiring and provide clear direction. While they don't need to be as detailed as strategic goals, they should still be relevant and ambitious. Use the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, Time-Bound) whenever possible, but be open to formulating more visionary goals.

Examples of growth targets:

• "Be the best burger in town."

• "Increase the company's presence on the Nordic market within three years."

• "Double turnover within five years."

Analyze the current situation and set realistic goals

Before setting your growth goals, it is important to analyze the company's current situation. This includes understanding the market, identifying competitive advantages and analyzing internal resources. By having a clear picture of the current situation, you can set realistic and achievable goals.

Example: "After careful market analysis and assessment of our resources, we have determined that a 10% increase in market share is a realistic target for the next two years."

Develop strategies to achieve growth targets

Once the growth goals are defined, the next step is to develop strategies to achieve them. This means identifying which measures are required and creating an action plan. The strategies must be well thought out and clearly linked to the five perspectives that govern the company's strategic goals:

1. The market perspective: Strategies within this perspective focus on understanding and satisfying customer needs. Example: "Develop a marketing campaign targeting new customer segments to increase brand awareness and attract more customers."
   
   

2. The sales perspective: Strategies within this perspective are about increasing sales volume and improving sales channels. Example: "Implement a new CRM system to improve customer relationships and increase repeat sales."
   
   

3. The operations perspective: Strategies here aim to improve internal processes to increase efficiency. Example: "Implement lean methods in production to reduce waste and increase productivity."
   
   

4. The people perspective: Strategies within this perspective focus on developing staff competence and motivation. Example: "Implement regular training programs to strengthen employee skills and engagement."
   
   

5. The finance perspective: Strategies within this perspective are about improving the company's financial performance and ensuring sustainable growth. Example: "Optimize the cost structure by negotiating supplier agreements and reducing operational costs."
   
   

Each strategy must be clearly defined and linked to specific activities and responsible people. It is also important that each strategy has measurable goals so that progress can be monitored and evaluated regularly.

Example of an action plan: "To achieve the growth goal of becoming the best burger in town, we will:

• The marketing perspective: Launch a marketing campaign that highlights our unique burger features and local ingredients.

• The Sales Perspective: Implement a loyalty program to reward repeat customers and increase customer loyalty.

• The business perspective: Improve kitchen processes to reduce waiting times and increase customer satisfaction.

• The employee perspective: Train all staff in customer service and product knowledge to improve the customer experience.

• The economic perspective: Reduce food costs by negotiating better contracts with local suppliers."

Implement and allocate resources

To successfully implement your strategies, it is important to allocate the necessary resources, both financial and human. Make sure that each strategy has a clear action plan and that responsible people are appointed to drive the work forward.

Example: "Allocate the marketing department a budget of SEK 500,000 to carry out the digital marketing campaign. The marketing manager is responsible for the campaign being carried out according to plan."

Follow up and evaluate progress

Regular follow-up and evaluation of progress is essential to ensure that the company is on the right track towards its growth goals. Use measurement tools and reports to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments to the strategy based on the results.

Example: "Conduct monthly reconciliation meetings where we review the latest reports and adjust strategies as needed to ensure we meet the target of growing the customer base by 15%."

Adjust and adapt the goals as needed

Flexibility is important in growth planning. If market conditions change or if the company encounters unexpected obstacles, the goals and strategies must be adjusted to remain relevant and achievable.

Example: "Due to an unforeseen change in the market, we are adjusting the product launch target to two new products instead of three within the same time frame."

Use tools for effective growth planning

Digital tools such as GoalEnvision can help companies plan, implement and follow up on their growth goals in a structured and transparent way. The tool enables clear communication, simple follow-up and efficient resource allocation.

Example: "Use GoalEnvision to create a common platform where all growth goals and progress can be tracked in real-time, facilitating collaboration and decision-making."

By following these steps, companies can create and achieve growth goals that not only drive the business forward, but also ensure long-term success and sustainable growth.