Strategising The Next Big Leap For Your Business

There are times in business when it becomes apparent that your company is ready for the next step.

If you’re new to the business world, you may not be able to instantly recognise these signs. So, here’s a quick overview of the signals that your company is ready to move onto its next goal:

The business is predominantly running smoothly. There are no panics during the working day, everyone involved in the company knows what they are doing, and no disasters are occurring that have to be rectified by pulling all-nighters. In fact, you can’t remember the last time the company had a panic that you didn’t automatically know how to solve.
You feel that your stress levels are lower. This goes hand-in-hand with the above; the smoother your company is running, the less stressed you’re going to be.
You are meeting, or exceeding, your productivity targets. If you’re starting to see targets be consistently achieved — or thereabouts — then this is a sign that your business needs new targets to work towards.
On a personal level, you may begin to feel that the business is a little predictable or even boring. This is a sign that you’re ready for new ideas and a new focus and, combined with the above, this feeling is a sign you’re definitely ready to take the next step in your company.

If you recognise any of the signs above, then it might be the right time for you to begin to take the next big leap with your company.

Defining the next big leap

Of course, if you’re ready for the next step or leap in your business, you’re going to need to figure out what that step actually is. Here are a few suggestions that can help you grow your business and meet your long-term goals more efficiently.

Introducing a new product to your business offering.
Beginning to offer a new service.
Branching into a new area, for example, transitioning an online ecommerce business to a selling in-person at offline events.
Taking on a higher number of clients than you currently have.
Moving into larger premises…
… and so on and so forth.

Essentially, your next big leap can be anything, provided it:

Cannot be done overnight; i.e., you are going to have to plan it carefully.
Requires some financial input. While some leaps can be performed without an extra financial boost, it’s unlikely this will be the case for a true leap.
Is beneficial to your business. After all, there’s no point in “leaping” if you’re not going to leap to somewhere better!

Planning your strategy

When you have settled on what your next big leap should be, you now have to enter the strategising phase. This is, arguably, the most crucial phase, so you’re going to need to consider these steps very carefully. Only when you have the right strategy can you be confident that your business’ big leap is going to be one worth taking.

Phase One: Determine the steps to your end goal

Let’s say that the big leap you have identified as necessary for your business is to “offer a new service”. However, there will be many smaller steps between your current status and the point you wish to reach. This isn’t going to cut it:

Start point: Your business as it currently is.
End point: The new service goes live.

So you need to start adding the steps in. Firstly, think about what you need to do. So this could mean your process begins to look like this:

Start point: Your business as it currently is.
You’re going to make a lot of decisions before you can begin to implement the ideas required for your big leap. As a result, this step will involve: you planning the new service, how it will operate, and what you need (for example, extra staff) to make it work.
The next phase will be for you to implement the decisions made in the second point.
End point: The new service goes live.

So we’ve scratched the surface here, but now it’s time to add a second layer. This time, you need to look at what you need from others to implement your new service. Here’s how this could look:

Start point: Your business as it currently is.
Planning the new service, how it will operate, and what you need (for example, extra staff) to make it work.
You implement the decisions made in the second point.
You need assistance from the likes of Weboptimizers and advertising pros to help spread the word about the new service. Therefore, you need to add a step where you outsource to experts who can ensure all the right eyes will be on your business’ new service; SEO and advertising are the primary requirements in this area. After all, there’s little point in offering a new service if no one knows about it, so utilise SEO and ads to help spread the good word.
The outsourcers accept the work and begin your campaign/s.
End point: The new service goes live.

So now you have thought about what you need to create the service and how you’re going to spread the word about the service so customers know to give it a try— but you’re not quite done yet. There’s another vital aspect you’re going to need to add:

Start point: Your business as it currently is.
Planning the new service, how it will operate, and what you need to make it work.
You implement the decisions made in the second point.
You contact outsourcing companies to spread the word about your new service.
The outsourcers accept the work and begin your campaign/s.
You consistently monitor the finances of your business to ensure that the implementation of the new service is not proving more expensive than planned.
End point: The new service goes live.

Yes, you do need to include a step that consistently reminds you to check the budget of your “big leap”. It’s easy to get carried away and overspend, so be cautious throughout the process to ensure that you don’t lose a grip on the finances.

So, when you have created a strategy that takes you from your start to your end points, you can begin implementing the steps you discovered above. This will, inevitably, lead you to the next phase of the implementation of your business’ next big leap…

Phase Two: Troubleshooting

Sadly, no matter how well you theorise, you’re going to experience problems while trying to implement the strategy as above. It’s vital that you remember that this is inevitable; that no one can 100% correctly make predictions about how things will go. What matters is how you react to issues occurring with the implementation of the above ideas.

Be proactive. Rather than feeling disheartened by an element of your strategy not working well, try to fix it as soon as possible.
Be ruthless. If an idea isn’t working, or the advertising agency you outsourced to isn’t performing well, then don’t be held back— cut the cord. If one element of your strategy is holding everything else back, then it’s far better for your project management to just walk away before the entire enterprise is delayed.
Be focused. One of the reasons you should wait for your business to show signs of being ready to take the next big leap is so that you can focus on that leap for the duration of its implementation process. Ultimately, you need the main part of your business to keep itself running in the background — without your daily involvement — as you work to make the “big leap” happen. Stay focused on the future and, if necessary, outsource the everyday running of your company to agencies or trusted employees.

Phase Three: Launch

When you are strategising each phase of your big leap correctly, and focusing on troubleshooting in the most efficient manner, you should be able to see your new service launch relatively quickly. Having gone through the steps above, you should also be able to look forward to a successful launch, as you have covered all the eventualities. After all, you know that the service is:

Something you and your business is able to manage effectively.
Thoroughly researched
Conclusively and affordably financed, thanks to your continual budget management
Visible to both new and existing customers thanks to your outsourced SEO and advertising efforts

With all of these positives going for it, your new service should make its debut with relative ease.

To conclude

Above, we’ve focused on the example of introducing a new service to your business, but the core points apply to all of the “big leaps” your business might want to take. A careful strategy, research, outsourcing to spread the word, and budgetary control are the fundamental of pushing your business in a new, beneficial direction. If you focus on these areas, then you can be confident your business will be able to take its big leap— and land comfortably on the other side.