Healthy Business Growth Comes From Depth, Not Just Disruption — Here's Why

History is rife pinch examples of "exciting" caller business offerings that clang and burn. A business mightiness make a ample plaything designed to alteration nan game, but rolling retired new, cutting-edge products and services that cipher asked for isn't ever nan wisest approach.

Here's nan truth: successful nan startup world, we for illustration to praise disruptors while forgetting that sometimes nan smartest maturation opportunities recreation from overmuch subtler moves. In fact, your adjacent champion caller merchandise aliases activity could beryllium hidden successful plain sight.

As nan laminitis of aggregate startups, I've learned that strategical explanation isn't needfully astir overhauling your business aliases pulling yet different rabbit retired of a hat. It's astir uncovering each imaginable measurement that nan products and services you've already built tin coming overmuch worthy to your partners aliases existing customers.

Building an first customer guidelines is labor- and cash-intensive. Why put overmuch powerfulness successful this pursuit erstwhile your existing relationships personification yet to beryllium optimized? Deepening existing relationships should beryllium paramount.

But really do you find what further offerings your customers genuinely need? How do you cognize which products and services will fto you to deepen those relationships and thrust growth? Here are 3 steps to uncover your adjacent caller offering.

Start by (actually) listening

The betterment of immoderate caller merchandise aliases activity originates pinch observant listening and genuine curiosity. I'm talking astir marketplace investigation that springs from customer obsession — not conscionable scouring Google Trends for ideas.

When my business betterment squad heads retired to spot partners, I ever say: "Don't inquire what they need; inquire what their problem is." It's a important distinction. The customer is an maestro successful their ain situation. But we should beryllium nan experts astir nan services and products that tin lick their problems.

My existent business, for example, is simply a personification finance institution that partners pinch clinics to thief their patients unafraid loans. But successful talking pinch convention owners, we learned that they personification financing struggles of their own; acquiring cutting-edge aesculapian instrumentality is expensive, and freeing up nan superior is challenging for them. That benignant of financing wasn't point we'd considered offering erstwhile we first launched. In fact, we ne'er would personification known it was a marketplace niche if we hadn't initiated those open-ended conversations.

Studies show that business students are taught to coming but not to listen. If we study to return successful what we comprehend from customers and partners truly, we mightiness observe that nan offerings connected level aren't what they want astatine all. Or that we're leaving money connected nan array by overlooking opportunities to diversify our products and services — and, arsenic a result, our gross streams.

Related: These Are nan Top 5 Threats Facing Retailers Right Now — and What You Can Do to Get Ahead of Them

Take banal of what you have

Discovering nan problem is only nan first step. Next, you personification to measurement whether you should relationship a solution. But remember, this isn't astir doing a 180 aliases creating a afloat caller vertical. Instead, inquire yourself: Is this additive to our existing business, aliases conscionable a shiny distraction?

That said, if nan bandwidth and expertise are already successful place, and nan caller merchandise aliases activity is an businesslike usage of clip and resources, past you've perchance conscionable struck gold. The cardinal is looking for those baked-in connections: nan ray assistance and nan smart reimagining of existing products and services truthful that they tin easy work further use.

Decide whether to greenlight

You've heard what's really needed, and you've taken banal to corroborate that you personification nan skills/equipment/team that tin fulfill that need. Then, it boils down to deciding whether this is really a awesome opportunity aliases a distraction.

After a basal costs study (will it make revenue?), a overmuch analyzable mobility is to ask: What is nan consequence to your existent customer relationships erstwhile you turn your database of offerings? If your caller merchandise aliases activity isn't executed well, nan spot you've built could beryllium damaged.

Brand dilution is simply a further risk. Any marque tin move weaker erstwhile caller products aliases services don't bolster and complement its original offering. That mightiness beryllium arsenic elemental arsenic an overabundance of akin products (Burberry's celebrated cheque style was utilized connected truthful galore bags and jackets successful nan 1990s that its marque worthy dimmed). Or it could mean nan institution wholly loses nan thread and caller offerings are nary longer aligned pinch larger goals.

Before greenlighting, inquire yourself, "Will this lead to overmuch growth?" and "Will this thief america move into nan champion type of our business?"

Read More: I Did a Manifestation Exercise Called 'Ocean of Abundance.' Then I Went to nan Beach, and This Happened.

The existent return

When done right, nan proscription of caller products and services should consciousness for illustration a win-win. The customer aliases partner has their problem solved. And you've unlocked a brand-new gross stream. Most importantly, your existing relationships are deepened, and nan ties that hindrance you together turn stronger.

True usefulness is nan extremity coming — delivering a caller offering custom-made for nan marketplace whose intricacies you've recreation to master. This starts erstwhile you extremity asking what you tin discarded group and commencement asking really you tin genuinely thief them.