Di

scussanyf
ivebusi
nessgr
owt
hst
rat
egi
est
hatcanbeadopt
edbySME'
sinZi
mbabwe.

Agrowt
hst r
ategyi
saplanofact
ionyoucreatet
ogrowyourbusi
ness.Ther
ear
efi
vest
agesof
gr
owththatmostbusi
nessesgothr
ough,whichareasf
oll
ows:

St
age1:
Seedanddev
elopment

Yournewbusi nessstar
tsatt
hisst
agewhileit’
ssti
ll
ani deayou’r
eexplor
ingandfine-
tuni
ng.In
thi
sstage,you’r
edoingalotofmarketr
esearchandaski ngquesti
onstoveri
fyanddetermine
whetheryourbusinessi
deaisagoodonet hatwil
latt
ractcustomers.

St
age2:
Star
tup

I
nt hi
sphase,yournewbusi nessi
sopen,andy ou’
restarti
ngtoatt
ractnewcustomer s.Thi
sis
alsotheti
mewheny oumaybegi ntoencounterunexpectedi
ssueswithcustomers,cashflow,
oryourday-t
o-dayoperat
ions.Thestar
tupstageisaboutsurvi
valandadaptabi
li
ty,soit’
scruci
al
toadjustandfi
gurethi
ngsoutasy ougount i
lyourbusinessachi
evessomef orm ofstabil
i
ty.

St
age3:
Growt
handest
abl
i
shment

Atthisst
age,anewbusinessisgenerati
ngasteadyincomewi t
hagrowingcustomerbase.
Howev er
,thebusi
nessmaybef i
ndi
ngittoughtobr
eakev en.Thef
ocushereistoimprovey
our
bott
om li
neasquicklyaspossibl
e—perhapsit
’sbyhi
ringquali
fi
edemployees,
invest
ingi
n
equipment,i
ncr
easingproduct
ivi
ty,
orreduci
ngwaste.

St
age4:
Expansi
on

Businessesatthisstagehav ebecomest able,profi

tabl
e,andest abl
ishedint
heiri
ndustr
y.But
expansionishardlythetimet ositbackandr el
ax.Inthisst
age, busi
nessownersty pi
cal
l
y
expl
oreot heropportuni
ties.Forexampl e, i
tmi ghtmeanget ti
ngabi ggershar
eoft hemarket
thr
oughpar tner
ships,newpr oductdev elopment ,orfr
anchi
sing.Thegoal int
hisphaseisto
expand,buttodosowi thoutoverextendingy oursel
f(oryourresources).

St
age5:
Mat
uri
tyandpossi
bleexi
t

I
nthematurit
ystage,abusi
nesshasshownsteadyprof
itsy
earaft
eryear.Forsomebusi ness
owner
s,t
hisistherightt
imetoexi
tthebusi
nessbysell
i
ngitorhandi
ngitov ertoanewCEO.
Forot
her
s,thismightbetheti
metocomeupwi thanewexpansionstr
ategyf orthebusi
ness.

Fi
veMar
ketSt
rat
egi
esar
easf
oll
ows:

1.Mar
ketpenet
rat
ion

Thisgrowthstr
ategypr i
mar i
l
yaimstoincreasemar
ketshar
ebysel
li
ngmoreofy
ourexist
ing
productsorser
vicesiny ourcur
rentmarket.I
t’
sal
ow-r
iskst
rat
egyt
hatmanysmall
-and
medium- si
zedbusinessesuse.
Her
ear
esomemar
ketpenet
rat
ionst
rat
egi
es:

Char
gel
owerpr
icescompar
edt
othecompet
it
ion

At
tractnewcust
omer
swi
thspeci
alof
fer
sanddi
scount
s

Encour
agecur
rentcust
omer
stobuymor
ewi
thv
olumeandbul
kdi
scount
s

I
ncr
easet
henumberofdi
str
ibut
orsanddeal
ersy
ourbusi
nessuses

2.Pr
oductexpansi
on

Thisgrowt
hst r
ategyinv
olvesmarket
ingnewpr
oduct
sandser
vicesi
nyourexi
sti
ngmar
kett
o
captur
ealargershareofthemarket.

Exampl
esofpr
oductexpansi
oni
ncl
ude:

Cr
eati
ngvar
iet
iesofanexist
ingproduct
;forexampl
e,asof
tdr
inkcompanyt
hatpr
oducesi
ts
mainsof
tdr
inkindi
ffer
entfl
avors

Updat
inganexi
sti
ngpr
oductwhent
hef
eat
uresar
enol
ongerat
tract
ivet
opot
ent
ial
cust
omer
s

I
ntr
oduci
nganewpr
oductl
i
net
oyourbusi
ness

Bundl
i
ngy
ourser
vicesi
ntodi
ff
erentpackagesandt
ier
s

3.Mar
ketdev
elopmentorexpansi
on

Foragr
owingcompanystruggl
i
ngtofi
ndit
sfeetinthecurrentmar
ket(
may
beduet
ost
if
f
compet
it
ion)
,marketdev
elopmenti
sagrowthstr
ategythatcanhel
p.

Alsoknownasmar ketexpansion,iti
nvolv
esselli
ngexist
ingproduct
sandserv
icesinanew
markettoi
ncreasemar ketshare.Forbestresul
ts,y
ouneedt ohavethor
oughmarketr
esear
ch
togainasol
idunderstandingofthenewmar ketandit
scustomerbase.

Af
ewexampl
esofmar
ketdev
elopmenti
ncl
ude:
Sel
l
ingy
ourpr
oduct
sorser
vicesi
nanot
herst
ateorcount
ry

Sel
l
ingt
oadi
ff
erentgr
oupofuser
sort
argetaudi
ence

Fr
anchi
sing,
bygi
vi
ngf
ranchi
seoppor
tuni
ti
est
oot
herbusi
nessesori
ndi
vi
dual
s

4.Mar
ketsegment
ati
on

Thi
sbusinessgr owthstrat
egydi
videsamarketi
ntodiff
erentsegments,suchasgeogr aphy
,
demographics,marketbehavi
or,
orcustomerbehavi
or.I
fy ou’
reasmal l
businessoperati
ngina
marketfi
l
ledwi t
hbiggercompetit
ors,t
hisgr
owthstr
ategycanhel p.Bysegmentingthemarket
,
youcanidentif
yandf ocusonasectorthaty
ourcompetit
or shaven’
tsuccessful
l
yreached.

5.Al
ter
nat
ivechannel
s

Usingalternat
ivechannelsisapopularbusinessgrowthstr
ategyf
orsmal
lbusi
nesses,
especial
lyinthedigi
talage.I
tinv
olv
esusi nganotherchannelorpl
atf
ormt
opromotey our
business,connectwithcustomers,
andsel ltothem.

Exampl
esofal
ter
nat
ivechannel
sincl
ude:

Sel
l
ingonl
i
net
hroughy
ourwebsi
te

Cl
aimi
ngy
ourYel
pBusi
nessPage

Sel
l
ingt
hroughpl
atf
ormsl
i
keAmazon,
Etsy
,andeBay

Usi
ngpai
dsear
chadst
opr
omot
eyourbusi
ness

Sel
l
ingt
hroughwhol
esal
erswheny
out
ypi
cal
l
ysel
lthr
oughr
etai
l
ers

6.Costr
educt
ion

Costreduct
ionisabusinessgrowthst
rat
egytoimprov
eyourbottom l
i
neandmakemorefunds
avai
labl
eforgrowth.Wheny oukeepbusi
nesscost
slowwithoutsacr
if
ici
ngqual
i
ty,
your
busi
nesswilll
ikel
ysurv
iveandgrow.

Her
ear
esomecostr
educt
ionst
rat
egi
est
oconsi
der
:
Useaccount
ingsof
twar
etot
rackexpenses

Gopaper
lessasmuchaspossi
ble

Ev
aluat
eal
lyourbusi
nesspr
ocessesandconsi
deraut
omat
ionwher
efeasi
ble

Reducet
radi
ti
onal
mar
ket
ingmet
hods,
anddi
rectmostofy
ourmar
ket
ingef
for
tsonl
i
ne

Consi
derout
sour
cingwhennecessar
y

Ti
mei
smoney
,soencour
ageef
fi
cientt
imemanagementpr
act
icesi
nyourbusi
ness.

Ref
erences

Mat
thi
asI
.Chi
j
ioke

MBA,
Mor
ganSt
ateUni
ver
sit
y,1989

BS,
Uni
ver
sit
yofMar
ylandEast
ernShor
e,1986

Abayo,J.(2014).Capi
tal
Inv
est
ment
sbySME’
satKi
buy
eMar
ket
,(MBAt
hesi
s,JomoKeny
att
a
Uni
versit
y,Kisumu).

Ai
slabi
e,C.(
2002)
.Suddenchangesi
namodel
ofsmal
lfi
rm gr
owt
h.Smal
lBusi
nessEconomi
cs,
4(
4):307–314.

Bar
ney,N(
2002)
.Gai
ningandSust
aini
ngCompet
it
iveAdv
ant
age,
2ndEd.Pr
ent
iceHal
l
,New
Jer
sey
.

Blundel
,R.K,
andHingley
,M.(2001).Expl
oringgrowthi
nver
ti
cali
nter
-fi
rmrel
ati
onships:smal
l
-
medium f
ir
mssupplyi
ngmult
iplefoodretai
lers.Jour
nal
ofSmall
BusinessandEnter
prise
Devel
opment,8(
3):
245–265.