Creating a successful business strategy includes many components that are interlinked and equally important parts of any business no matter how the size of the business.
In this article, we will explain each and every point of a business strategy that needs to consider and how it should be used to get the maximum result.
What is a business strategy for your small business?
The business strategy is a set plan which enables all your idea towards your entity. This comprises the following five important parameters.
- What type of business that you are looking for? It may be a manufacturing business, food joints, restaurants, service, or real estate industry.
Selecting a business depends on your expertise or market demand. A perfect way to start a business is to research the market trends and start creating an outline of your business.
Market research can help a business owner to understand the market, competitors, and all things that a customer is looking for. This is the first step to starting a new business.
2. After finalizing the first step then comes the financial part. It is the most critical and important for any small and large business.
Working on your financial projection a business owner will now start looking for funds. Financial institutions and investor findings help you to get your required funds.
This is not an easy task for any startup. There are a few things that an investor or a financial institution is looking for.
A top-notch business presentation and showcasing the next 5 years’ plan gives liberty to any business owner to acquire funds from the market.
3. Allocating funds and setting up the business then comes to a team who will run the show. Selecting or identifying a team is another area where the entire small business and large business strategy is dependent.
A successful business strategy can not be driven without a perfect team composition. An excellent management team along with the execution team can lay the foundation for any business and this team can create milestones by using a business strategic plan.
4. Create a strategic launch plan which is aligned with your small business strategy. Launch can ensure your presence in that particular market and help you as a business owner to start your journey.
5. Day-to-day operation strategy and adaptability according to the market need will make sure your positive growth in the market. This is the most challenging and important task for each and every member of the organization.
All the above five points are the foundation for any small business strategy formulation during its inception. Businesses must consider these five points to start.
The purpose of all good small business strategies is to increase turnover, and profitability and achieve a competitive advantage over competitors.
What are the strategies for your small businesses?
Strategies for a small business or an entity are majorly looking for low-cost and budget-oriented plans where maximum ROI (return on investment) can be achieved.
- Can hire a small business strategy consultant – who can guide you to set up and guide you to launch your business. A consultant can be a handy option for any business owner to set up everything.
- Cost leadership strategy – Most integral part of any business strategy, whether it is small or large format. Reducing costs by not compromising on the service or quality can be a game-changer for any kind of business.
An effective cost leadership strategy can create an impact on the shareholders or the investors in a positive manner.
- It can help you to minimize the cost on an overall basis
- Minimizing operational costs can help you to create more spending on your marketing budget
- This can help a business owner or business strategy consultant to think over more investments with the help of this.
- Can that be passed on to the customers in the form of discounts and other services which might not be used by your competitors?
- How business strategy can be managed or sustain this cost leadership proposition in the long run? This analysis can help you to grow more and outsmart your competition totally.
An effective cost leadership strategy can help you to rethink business automation, employee benefit, product or service research, competitive price points, and many more.
Cost leadership strategy encourages the small business strategy to fire effectively in the market.
3. Differentiation strategy – it is based on how you differentiate your product or services in that market. This is a wide range of product diversification strategies to get more traction on the market.
Wide competition study, how the competition projects its product or service in that market. What are all prices and offerings with that product and what is more like and dislike of that particular product?
This needs a perfect market research activity and identifies where you are standing with that particular product in that market. After research, you might see yourself in a strong position, or sometimes you are not in a strong position.
This part of the strategy can help you to scale your business in that market or help your step into a new market.
- It can help you to understand the trend and requirements.
- Help you to manage your 4Ps.
- This is a growth hack for your business.
- Helps you to create opportunities or scale your business in that same or new market.
- It can also help a business strategist to create a community among the existing customer base.
Remember that differentiation strategy is a continuous process and it needs more and more refining by the core team or appointed strategy consultant of your business.
You can run a cost and differentiation strategy partially but it should be managed properly. If your overall strategy i.e. differentiation strategy is not started and as a business owner you are more focused on the cost focus leadership, then it will not help you to grow.
What are the most successful small businesses nowadays?
It is the most exciting and rewarding time to start a small business. The pandemic taught us to look for opportunities to create something which can give the desired result to a business-minded person who can think beyond his or her regular lifestyle.
People are more tending towards online rather than traditional mode. Selecting a small business idea and making a perfect strategy can ensure direct or passive income for several people.
Following are the Top 10 best and most profitable small businesses in India you can start with.
- Cloud Kitchen – This is one of the small business ideas supported by the various platforms. No big space would require for this as there is no dining facility only incoming orders fulfillment. Only kitchen and specialty staff can run the show with the help of online food delivery partners like Swigge, Zomato, and many others.
- Real Estate – India will reach a Trillion market in 2030 and this will be an upcoming booming sector. But in the real estate business investment is much higher compared to other businesses.
- Event Management – Old but still a very lucrative business for many people. Organizing events, promotions and large parties can be a good business idea to start with. It can be corporate events or family events both can be catered by any event management company. This business has seen stiff growth from 66 billion (2018) to almost 100 billion rupees by 2022.
- Web Designing – The web is the platform where every small and large format jumps into. Without a website, no business can start or run. Now the world has changed from a physical to a virtual way of living and the requirement for website developers is so high that it will be the next scope in the coming few decades.
- Healthcare & Pharma sector – Taking a franchise of any healthcare and pharma company is the next best business option. This is an evergreen, never-ending, and high-profit margin sector.
- Online Tutor – We have all seen how this field has emerged during the pandemic and this will be the new normal in near future. Contactless teaching and sometimes cost-effective for a parent can be seen everywhere and it is widely accepted now. Creating many courses and e-learning platform is one of the small best business ideas if a person makes the strategy according to the market.
- Blogger & Youtuber – Both fields are in high demand and day by day both fields will grow if you have patience and select the perfect niche according to expertise.
- Business Consultant – High demand but experience and expertise are the keys to success. As a country, we are emerging towards a $5 Trillion economy and business consultation will be in high demand. This can be a great option to start a small consultancy firm and provide the best and required service.
- Digital Marketing service – 539 Billion projected market by 2024 and the most diversifying platform for every business and almost every sector. Rapid growth and new technology induction make this field more aggressive and will stay longer period.
- Organic Farming – Starting organic farming by cultivating crops or setting up a distribution business of organic farming. The government has announced many benefits in budget sessions. Check out those schemes and start an organic farming business today.
Many other small business ideas can also be looked into. Online garments, Beauty and Fashion Tips, Wedding Planner, Home Based Bakery can also be exciting among ladies. These are the most admired small business ideas in India for ladies.
3D printing, Custom Printed products, and Affiliate Marketer businesses are nowadays very lucrative small business ideas.
But an idea can’t be successful without having a perfect business strategy. This is where conceptualization of the best strategy according to your business is the most decisive factor.
How do I promote my small business strategy?
Business promotion strategies depend on how a business owner understands the local market or focus market. Setting up a promotional strategy based on many parameters.
There are many ways to promote your business but how much does a business owner understand or assess its market?
This assessment will help a business owner to understand how he or she should start promotional activities or rather I would say what medium or channel a business owner can look into.
For example, a cloud kitchen owner or a restaurant owner is simply looking or highlighting hygiene and parallelly quality of food. But, for healthcare businesses, excellent services in a much cheaper manner can attract more customers to your business.
The business promotional strategy depends on how you allocate your resources (funds) wisely and more effectively.
- A small business promotional strategy lot depends on local presence and for that listing, Google listing is a much more effective platform nowadays.
Register your business and create a detailed profile with contact numbers, business addresses, opening hours of your business, website, and many more.
This is a free platform that Google offers to business owners. Apart from Google listing many other local listing platforms like Just Dial, Quicker, etc. where you can also create a profile and mention your offerings or services.
Local listing can attract more potential buyers to your business.
- Use an extensive social media platform and create your business page. Regular posts and engaging content can attract customers to your business.
A Facebook ad campaign can cost as minimum as $10-15 to start with. Create your ad and generate more inquiries for your business.
This is the most attractive platform to engage customers in many ways. Attractive images, videos, offers, and USPs (Unique Selling Proposition) of your business that can stand out among your competitors.
- Launch a business website and post regular content that relates to your business. Do SEO (search engine optimization) for your website. Provide rich content to your visitors. Create a testimonial section and showcase your satisfied customer feedback.
- Create a community for your business and engage your customers by asking them to share feedback or suggestions that can also boost your social media page, and listing profile performance and help to get more and more buyers.
- Participation in events and promotions according to your business domain can attract more eyeballs to your business. Customized promotional offers help you to generate revenues along with business visibility.
These are 5 low-cost promotional strategies that can boost your business strategy ahead of what you have started. A small business owner nowadays focuses on these strategies rather than going for a traditional medium.
A traditional medium is more expensive and is more suitable for stable businesses that have already started the journey and generating revenue.
Billboards and TV can obviously give a business owner more visibility but a cost-effective promotion plan help a business owner to invest more or more in the research and development platform to make the best possible services or products to the end-users and can also be utilized in the employee benefits program.
The 7 stages of business growth executing these basic strategies
Without a growth strategy, no business can survive, and for small businesses or startups, 7 stages of business growth need to be considered during the finalization of your small business strategy.
- Conceptualization, where the business is yet to be launched and it is in the planning stage. Idea finalization and its acceptance in the market and how much competition that are going to come for the same domain also need to be considered.
In the above section of my article where I have clearly mentioned on market survey and why it is so important to launch your product and services in that market where competitors are already there.
The market survey gives a clear idea of what is lagging behind those competitors and what all services and innovations will attract customers to your business.
This stage is very much critical for every small business and startup. Many challenges can be seen by the business owner and addressing those challenges can help a business to sustain and grow in the future.
- Registering your business is the second stage after finalizing the business model. At this stage, you need to register your company, and business name, create a brand logo, look for investors (check out the above section of the article on what all points to mention during investor finalization), employee pool, business partners (Franchise, Suppliers, Delivery management system, etc.)
This is the stage where a business owner needs to create a base for his or her business. All perfect means a great start to that business.
- Rising stage or the growth stage, where the business launched hopefully it has started very well and done good business at this early stage. But, this is where your problem is solved, this thought can kill your business at that point.
Many challenges can be seen or observed where a lot many fine-tuning would require from a business owner.
The business may see fierce competition after launch as this is a relatively new business in that market. Week management or poor-quality staff can make your life miserable and it can also be challenging with low or negative cash flow to the business.
If this hits your startup then as a business owner you need to step in and educate your management staff, restructure your employee strength and arrange proper training, or hire more expert people to do the job on your behalf of you. Convenience the investor and show them the future plan for gaining their confidence.
- Established as a brand, this is the stage where the launchpad is perfectly set to grow. The business is running with positive cash flow, operational goals achieved, and made the brand for that particular market. This is the most satisfactory position for any business owner and for investors also.
But now is the time when many challenges may arrive and push you behind. Strong competition, not understanding the customer choice, and lack of innovative offerings.
As a business owner, you need to be very focused and do regular R&D (research and development), and develop such uniqueness that many customers can attract. Strategize your marketing and promotional plans, and work on a more product and service ecosystem where an umbrella of offers or services can attract new business.
Regular focus, study, automation, and upgrade can lead to successful growth.
- Expand now, if the above 4 points have been successfully covered then the business entered into the expansion stage where the entity looking for a new market and new product or service range.
This is that stage where you need a big team and more dependency on the sales and marketing department to expand the business. More structural financial processes, the formation of independent departments, and a structural format help a business to expand.
This phase of business strategy needs to be focused on the competitors, make the R&D (research and development) process more effective, pump in more funds, and expand your team.
- Maturity of business, here the business strategy was successfully demonstrated and it has expanded and is now huge. This is where the business has a big presence and effective management and future expansion policy need to be incorporated.
In this stage business owners or management face many issues to sustain and expand further. This time your business strategy needs more spot-on action.
This maturity phase of business has bigger operation costs (employee-related costs- salaries, traveling, meetings, etc.), some part of your business unit has negative cash flows, and rather but not least to sustain regular R&D and new product introduction to enter or explore new market.
Sometimes a safe and calculative existence can be observed or new strategies to attract customers also be planned. A perfect exit or new expansion plan can be considered according to need.
- Exit is the last option for any business owner and it also comes under the business strategy. Doing the best valuation of your business sets your exit plan simple.
It can be done outright to sell off your company or make some sections for sale. Or else look for further business strategy by introducing a new product or service line and making your negative cash flow into a positive one.
Talk to investors or financial institutions for more funds to start a new line of business. If the further expansion process fails then look for an advisor who can guide you on the exit of your business.
This is how an entire business model is working and all these 7 stages of the growth strategy help a business owner to walk on the perfect path. These growth strategies can be implemented as per your capability as a business owner but these are the main stages for any business growth strategy.
Case Study –
The perfect way to start a small business or startup is to understand the customer’s or users’ pain and what options can be offered to get large numbers of loyal customers toward your business.
Bewakoof.com is the classic example where two IIT grads started their journey in 2012 from a college campus and make 210 cr. the fashion e-commerce company in 9 years.
Their unique concept of T-shirt painting creates a huge buzz in the age group of 18-34 years. Unique tag lines make their product stand out among big players.
From a small website, a dedicated Facebook Page and Instagram profile enables millions of visitors to their website and check out the latest trendy apparel.
They have sold 2 million products in 19,000 pin codes and sold in 90 countries.
The trendy mobile back cover also made a big success for this brand. Presently they have introduced a women’s clothing range.
Millions of followers on social media platforms help them to generate more revenues for Bewakoof.com.
The company has grown by 27% in FY20 and estimated operating revenue between 100-500 cr. They have a few investors where they have raised approximately 24 million funds to run the entire business.
They have faced losses and collectively approx 28 cr. losses receded for FY20 and gradually they are working on positive EBITDA margins and repositioning their business strategy.
Overall two founders are running the business very aggressively and making this brand popular among the young generation.
Bewakoof.com’s business model helps you to understand how they segmented and targeted the market by researching the right need or requirement for customers, and around that, they have created a strong and attractive fashion e-commerce brand.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)-
How do you attract customers?
Creating customer-centric offers can help a business owner to attract more customers. Ask customers to rate your service or product by visiting your mobile app or website. This can also help you to generate follow-up business. Use referral programs frequently.
How do I start marketing?
First, register your business on the local listing sites and make your profile attractive and informative. This is the first step toward your marketing strategy.
How can I get clients fast?
To get the client fast you have to reach out to your relatives, and friends. This is a very preliminary way of getting clients. After your feet strat moving then use social media to get more clients. As I have discussed in the previous point, use referral programs more. If permits start using advertisement (traditional & social) platforms.
What are the 5 promotional strategies?
The perfect way to do promotion depends on a certain mix and an accurate strategy gives desired goal achievement. a.Advertisement (miz of traditional & digital) b.Build your customer community c.direct marketing d.PR & Sponsorship e.Sales Promotion.
What are the top 10 small business ideas in India for ladies?
There are many ways ladies can build homegrown businesses by taking various Government subsidies.
-Boutique
-Beauty Parlour
-Social Media Marketing
-Cloud Kitchen
-Online Tutor
-Art & Craft
-Freelance Content Writer
-Confectionary
-Health Tips
-Freelance Graphic Designer
Several schemes by the government encourage many women in India to become an entrepreneur.
Which are the top 10 profitable businesses in India?
Following are the Top 10 profitable businesses in India
– Real Estate
– Cloud Kitchen
-Event Management
-Web Designing & Mobile App Development
-Healthcare & Pharma sector
-Online Tutor
-Blogger & Youtuber
-Business Consultant
-Digital Marketing service
-Organic Farming
What are the quick start business ideas in India?
To start a business every small business owner looking to start a business keeps fixed income parameters checked. Fixed income business can help a small business owner to give liberty to expand the business further. Following are the few top quick-start business ideas in India.
– Freelance HR manager
– MLM – Multi-Level Marketing
– Yoga Trainer
– Beauty Expert
– Confectionary
– Cloud Kitchen
– Boutique
– Handcraft
– Pet Business
– Marriage Bureau
What are the four basic marketing strategies?
4P is the basic marketing strategy that every business should have. It is the marketing mix of your business. It comprises product, price, place, and promotion.
How can I start a business from home?
To start a business from home is one of the most challenging or more lucrative options if anyone is looking to start a small business from home
– Blogging – Identify a profitable niche and build your content around that.
– Affiliate Marketing – Select the perfect product and start creating your content around that
– Online Teaching – It has got more opportunities nowadays, to use your knowledge and educate other people.
– Join the Freelancer site – Register freelancing portal and make an excellent profile, start pitching your quote tactically and get your first client.
– YouTube – The concept is just like blogging but here youtube platform helps you be a content creator in any niche as per your expertise and comfortability. YouTube can make you a celebrity if you work passionately.
Suggested Article – Top 10 Best Online Business Ideas to Start a Small Business.
How can I grow my business faster?
- Build your customer retention policy
- Do extensive R&D
- Track your competitors
- Act fast
- Engagement on Social Media platforms
- Participate in events
- Build a strong sales funnel
- Product diversification
- Collaboration
- Expansion plan
- Create and monitor GTM (go-to-market) strategy
Conclusion –
A perfect way to start a business or run a business needs to have a certain set of components that help or support your small or large business strategy to function and go further. Always check all aspects before starting a business. Every business has a certain amount of cost that is involved and no business owner will be fancy to consume losses. So, set up your business strategy based on these components which will give your business grow further. If you have confused about how to start, then contact me for guidance.
