You run a small coffee roastery and sell your coffee to about 40 cafés in your city. For two years your sales have stayed roughly the same. Most of the cafés that might buy from you already do, and more advertising isn’t bringing in anyone new.
At this point, selling more the same way no longer works. Developing your business means opening a new route to growth.
Four routes to growth, from least to most risky
There are usually four routes in front of you. The further down the list you go, the more there is that you don’t know, and the higher the risk:
- A new product for the same customers. For example, sell those same 40 cafés a pricier single-origin coffee for their specials menu, or run barista training for their staff. You know these customers and they trust you, so the only new thing is the product.
- A new sales channel. For example, sell the same coffee online in small bags to people at home. You know the product, but you have to learn how people find you and buy from you online.
- A new market. For example, sell to cafés in another city. Here you don’t know the customers, and you also have to work out how to deliver to other cities.
- A partnership with another business. For example, sign a contract with a café chain to roast their own house blend. If it works, growth is fast, but a large part of your sales comes to depend on a single customer.
If you don’t know where to start, start with the first, because it asks you to learn the least from scratch.
Before you grow, check your business can carry the extra weight
Every new route puts more work on your business. If you currently approve every café order yourself and talk to every customer yourself, a new product or channel just means more work for you. First hand those tasks to your team through delegation, and then add the new work.
Try the new route with a cheap experiment first
Before you invest in a new route, try its simplest version. Instead of buying a packing machine for online sales, for example, pack 50 bags by hand for a month, sell them on Instagram and see how many people buy from you again.
For each route, write down what you’re sure of and what you’re only guessing. You’re sure your coffee is good, for instance, but that people will buy it from you online is only a guess, and that’s the one to test first. I explained how to separate your guesses from what you’re sure of, and which to test first, in how to write a one-page business plan for your business.
And if you’re not sure which route is the least risky for your business, in a free diagnostic session we will work it out together.