How to ignite faster growth in a growth-driven SMB company

As an investor, board member, or executive in a growth-driven SMB, you're eager to accelerate your company's growth trajectory.

However, growth isn't always linear, and hidden barriers can slow down or even derail your progress.

How do you identify and overcome these growth blockers to ensure optimal returns on your investments - and ignite faster growth?

Riding the first wave of growth

Growth companies are often fueled by innovation, dynamism, optimism, and a strong culture of collaboration. You may have a million-dollar business idea, perfect market timing, boundless enthusiasm, and the guts to execute your vision.

Initially, everything may seem to go your way. Your business might experience rapid, almost organic growth, and it's easy to predict its pace based on the expanding market around you.

But often, the underlying factors driving this growth are not fully identified, understood, or objectively interpreted.

"We grew the team. We stayed focused on our product. The monthly numbers started to climb. And then, at some point, they did not."

Sahil Lavingia, Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company

Making the leap to faster data-driven growth

To sustain your growth momentum, you need to look beyond organic growth and foster predictable, measurable, goal-oriented collaboration between your sales and marketing teams, leveraging data, insights, and digitalization.

This shift from organic to faster growth involves identifying and addressing potential growth blockers:

• Unclear strategy:

  • A vague or misaligned strategy can be a major barrier to growth.

  • Ensure your company has a well-defined strategic plan that outlines your goals, target markets, and competitive positioning.

• Unidentified growth drivers:

  • If you don't understand what's driving your growth, it's hard to sustain or accelerate it.

  • Analyze your business's growth patterns and identify the factors contributing to your success.

• Reliance on organic growth:

  • Relying solely on organic growth can limit your potential.

  • Explore opportunities to drive non-organic growth through targeted sales and marketing initiatives.

• Not utilizing data and insights:

  • Data-driven decision-making can help you identify opportunities and optimize your growth strategies. Invest in analytics tools and use insights to inform your strategic decisions.

• Lack of alignment between Sales and Marketing:

  • Misalignment between these teams can hinder your growth efforts.

  • Establish clear lines of communication, shared goals, and integrated processes to drive seamless collaboration.

Conclusion

To achieve faster growth in a growth-driven SMB company, it is essential to have a clear strategy, sales and marketing alignment, an understanding of your growth drivers, and a focus on data-driven decision-making. Addressing these areas can help overcome growth blockers and ensure that investments yield optimal returns.