{"id":4849,"date":"2018-08-16T15:53:25","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=4849"},"modified":"2025-05-27T06:21:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T10:21:16","slug":"the-ultimate-business-growth-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/the-ultimate-business-growth-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The ultimate business growth guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/growth-customers\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Growth &amp; Customers<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe ultimate business growth guide\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2018-08-16T15:53:25-04:00\">August 16, 2018<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"The ultimate business growth guide\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/the-ultimate-business-growth-guide\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/benhuyard\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/07\/Me.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Ben Huyard<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Businesses have a number of goals, the first, often being to still be operating past the first year. Once stability has been secured, it\u2019s time to start thinking about where your enterprise is going next. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Growth is the goal<\/a>, but how can you achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sage invited a number of highly successful entrepreneurs and business experts to discuss the best methods for expanding an endeavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Included in the twitter discussion were Jennifer Warawa &#8211; contributor to Sage\u2019s \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/subscribe\/\">The ultimate business growth guide\u2019<\/a>, Rieva Lesonsky \u2013 small business and entrepreneur thought leader, and Tripp Braden \u2013 financial services and client acquisition advocate and expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, a number of the Sage Top 100 global business experts joined the conversation and offered their advice on growth and expansion. Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-should-businesses-prepare-for-growth\"><strong>How should businesses prepare for growth?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1380\" height=\"767\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/a.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4854\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/a.jpg 1380w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/a-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1380px) 100vw, 1380px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rachel Fisch, CPB @FischBooks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMany times businesses want to grow but haven&#8217;t done the work to ensure their internal practices and policies are scalable as they do. Standardize and streamline as much as possible first, then create a plan to grow\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Carol Stephen @Carol_Stephen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHire people who&#8217;ve been through the process successfully before so you can have the infrastructure in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rob May @robmay70&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStart with the customer in mind. Customer focused companies make sure their policies and processes make it easy, for the customer to do business with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-will-digital-transformation-effect-fast-growing-businesses\"><strong>How will digital transformation effect fast-growing businesses?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paul Ince @BizPaul<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith knowledge comes power. Those businesses that grasp the intelligence can respond far more quickly. It&#8217;s also easier for a smaller business to do this in my opinion as they have fewer levels of internal bureaucracy to affect change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nancy Teixeira @nancytex<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDigitization (the conversion) and digitalization (the process) are fundamentally changing the way we operate + deliver value to customers. Smart companies will embrace and leverage technology to fuel their business growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-businesses-foster-deeper-relationships-with-customers-to-drive-growth\"><strong>How can businesses foster deeper relationships with customers to drive growth?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tripp Braden @TrippBraden<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor many entrepreneurs, the greatest opportunities exist by blending tech and human touch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jennifer Warawa @jenniferwarawa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDeeper relationships with customers come when you\u2019re totally &#8216;customer obsessed&#8217;. Create a true understanding of where customers are happy + where they see room for improvement, then make a visible effort to improve in those areas. Customers want to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-where-should-customer-focus-begin-nbsp-nbsp-nbsp\"><strong>Where should customer focus begin?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/c-1024x569-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22115\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/c-1024x569-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/c-1024x569-1-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Neil Cattermull @NeilCattermull <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRegular account meetings to demonstrate you are delivering what&#8217;s required, whilst having potentially new biz proposed!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-businesses-recruit-with-a-growth-mindset\"><strong>How can businesses recruit with a growth mindset?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Janice B.Gordon @Janicebg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRecruit on attitude everything ease is trainable &#8211; most company play is safe and recruit similar to what they have or had before. Zero on innovation and transformation &#8211; GET OUT OF YOUR BOX!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jennifer Warawa @jenniferwarawa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRecruit talent that can meet your future needs, not just your current needs. Knowing where your business is headed and what skillsets will be needed to get you there is critical as you think of building your workforce of tomorrow\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-3rds-of-companies-offer-flexible-working-environments-how-can-you-adopt-a-productive-arrangement-as-a-high-growth-company\"><strong>2\/3rds of companies offer flexible working environments. How can you adopt a productive arrangement as a high-growth company?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1380\" height=\"767\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/d.jpg 1380w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/d-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1380px) 100vw, 1380px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jennifer Warawa @jenniferwarawa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFlexible work environments allow businesses to recruit the best talent from around the world, regardless of company size. However, it\u2019s key to make sure remote colleagues have the opportunity to collaborate and be part of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-your-1-tip-to-maintain-momentum-how-can-you-avoid-a-plateau-or-falling-behind\"><strong>What is your #1 tip to maintain momentum? How can you avoid a plateau or falling behind?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1380\" height=\"767\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/e.jpg 1380w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/e-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1380px) 100vw, 1380px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rieva Lesonsky @Rieva<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy best advice echoes @TrippBraden. Never stop learning. Always aspire to do better. And follow the Golden Rule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Payment Evolution @PayEvo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cKeep going. Don&#8217;t stop and try to keep up with your competitors. You fall behind trying to keep up instead of growing your original idea and being innovative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to everyone who participated and made this twitter chat a great success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to learn more, we encourage you to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/subscribe\/\">download<\/a> \u2018The ultimate business growth guide\u2019. This exclusive guide is your roadmap to creating a thriving business and includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Inside tips from successful leaders at Karbon, Remote Year, Zendesk and more<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to build a finance and accounting foundation for growth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Insights into hiring and retaining a great team<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to form strategic partnerships<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your 10-step profitability checklist<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Get your copy now by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">subscribing to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/a> and you\u2019ll join our growing community of business leaders, CFOs, and accountants.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<a\n\t\tclass=\"button button--primary \"\n\t\trole=\"button\"\n\t\tdata-button-location=\"content_area\"\n\t\thref=\"#\"\n\t>Download the ultimate busines growth guide<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Businesses have a number of goals, the first, often being to still be operating past the first year. Once stability has been secured, it\u2019s time to start thinking about where your enterprise is going next. Growth is the goal, but how can you achieve it? Sage invited a number of highly successful entrepreneurs and business [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":643,"featured_media":20123,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[153,205,279],"business_type":[41],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[98,96,97,95],"imagine_tag":[231],"coauthors":[739],"class_list":["post-4849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-growing-a-business","tag-influencers-to-follow","tag-sage-events","business_type-growing-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Ben Huyard","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1338373163.jpg","imagine_tags":{"231":"Start up business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/643"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/20123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}