As therapeutic as it might feel for me, ranting about clickbait gurus writing “silver bullet” blogs is old news. I don’t know many business owners who put much weight on headlines like:

1. "The secret strategy that every successful business uses..."
2. “This company got 413% ROI on this campaign…”
3. “You won’t believe how he lost 47 pounds with this smoothie…”

I’m getting off track with that last one, but it all sounds the same after a while. Maybe you still click because even cynical readers can be curious (I still am…), but you know that you won’t unlock the mystery of predictable revenue growth by clicking on that article, right?

Today, I want to acknowledge that the process of uncovering YOUR company’s path to success isn’t clickbait-y. It’s not mysterious. It’s not a generic, one-size-fits-all hack.

Your growth strategy is at its best when it’s a clear, observable, improvable process. Unlike a parked car, you can only steer toward success when you’re in motion. That’s where you’ll find your growth strategy.

Want to Grow? Clickbait Won’t Get You There

I know what I just wrote in the header, but this truth doesn’t just apply to clickbait. It’s even true for the really good stuff.

I’ll be the first to tell you that we need a steady stream of new, challenging ideas to motivate us enough to take action. It’s why I’ve written a ton of articles to help business owners. These ideas matter, but they have their limits.

We can’t fall into the trap of always planning – rarely doing. We never know if a good idea is actually any good until we see it in action. That’s why my most valuable discoveries happen with my sleeves rolled up in my day-to-day consulting work with business owners.

You Discover YOUR Revenue Growth Strategy with a System

Our knowledge economy has made access to ideas easier than ever – but maybe to a fault. There’s so much information that we can get stuck chasing shiny objects without ever knowing if they work.

That’s why to uncover your best revenue growth strategy, you need to take a systematic approach to growth. To keep it simple, a revenue system allows you to:

1. Observe: Clearly understand how each step of your business contributes to (or restricts) the flow of revenue
2. Measure: Define measurable success for each step and quickly diagnose what’s preventing your growth
3. Optimize: Develop, test, and implement solutions that can prove or disprove success

This approach is easy enough to agree on, but putting a system like this in place is where many owners get hung up. It’s a high-priority activity, but other things get in the way:

• Too many fires to put out to dig deep on a growth strategy
• Too many day-to-day responsibilities – too “in the weeds” to work on the business
• Lack of methodology – it’s overwhelming to create a strategy that digs into your actual business numbers
• Lack of follow-through… plans are only as good as their execution

I will give you two things that will help you in this area. The first is advice from a few decades of working with owner-led businesses in the range of 2M-30M in annual revenue. Then, I’ll give you the exact system headers we use to measure, assess, and optimize revenue growth. Let’s do it!

Advice: Lack of Action is Your Biggest Threat

Let’s start with the advice. In my years working with owner-led businesses, there’s a single factor that I look to as a predictor of success: follow through.

Business owners who use the Revenue Throughput System dig up a veritable gold mine of revenue-growing insights. That’s the easy part, partially because it’s exciting. Implementation is the hard part. Not because the plan is hard, but because distractions are plentiful for the busy owner.

If you’re serious about growth, I’ll remind you of a warning you probably already know: strategy can not be a backburner priority for growth. As the owner, it’s up to you to set the course for your ship and make sure you stick to it. Without your leadership, your business drifts away from its strengths and sacrifices growth.

To overcome this, take ownership. Some owners can stick to the process and see it through. Most owners don’t (not can’t - but don’t). If it’s up to you but you haven’t been able to stick to it, get some help. Some external accountability and structure make your time far more effective. The expertise you get from a partner like Value Prop is like a lever, making heavy lifting far easier. That’s why I’d invite you to check out our structure and model. It may be the key to consistency and building a long-term strategy.

Here Are the Revenue System Stages We Look At

Now that we’ve addressed the big piece, let’s look at the eight factors we focus on when we walk businesses through the Revenue Throughput Analyzer. You can read a full breakdown here.

• Targeting: Who is your real ideal customer, and what are they struggling with?
• Differentiation: Why are you the best solution to their problem? What can you claim that others can’t?
• Marketing: What are you doing to get in front of your ideal prospect consistently? (and is it working?)
• Sales: Do you have a system that allows you to convert more business? (that’s not dependent on an expensive rainmaker)
• Leadership: How do you effectively prioritize working on your business, not just in your business?
• Resources: Are you getting maximum value from your resources like working capital, team members, and supplier network?
• Production: How can you maximize your value delivery for your service or product?
• Fulfillment: Do you have a process to collect customer feedback and turn it into actionable insight?

This is the high level, but you can see the roadmap for how we define your revenue system. Get each one of these aspects tuned in over time, and you’ll have a far more efficient, predictable system to win high-quality revenue.

I’d Love to Show You How We Do It!

Let’s Talk Growth

If you found this helpful, check this out next: Listen to the 4 Step Strategic Plan episode on the Business Growth on Purpose podcast. It’s a useful thought exercise for you and your leaders to clarify your vision and your path forward.