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Profitable Growth Is Everyone’s Business

The bottom line for all companies is to make a profit. The higher the earnings and the profit, the better for everyone involved. The best way to do this is through growth — profitable growth. Gone are the days of ruthless downsizing and cost cutting in order to make more money. In this book, the author shows you how focusing on profitable growth could be the answer you’ve been looking for. Here, the author gives practical information that you can understand, use, and take to work with you on Monday morning.

The Challenge of Profitable Revenue Growth

Profitable revenue growth is a goal of any company. In this book, we will discuss not theories, but concrete steps you can take to the office with you on Monday mornings.

There are three main reasons why people find growth difficult to achieve. First, many companies turn to cost cutting methods which in the end actually undermines growth instead of fostering it Second, when people think of growth, they think of “home runs”, or great, big, splashy kinds of growth (such as a revolutionary new product), instead of concentrating on smaller sustainable growths — referred to as singles or doubles to follow the baseball analogy. Third, improving productivity and increasing revenue are seen as two separate entities when in fact they are not.

The good news is that there are ten tools for profitable growth that you can use.

These tools are:

1. Revenue growth is everyone’s business, so make it part of everyone’s daily work routine.
2. Hit many singles and doubles, not just home runs.
3. Seek good growth and avoid bad growth.
4. Dispel the myths that inhibit both people and organizations from growing.
5. Turn the idea of productivity on its head by increasing revenue productivity.
6. Develop and implement a growth budget.
7. Beef up upstream marketing.
8. Understand how to do effective cross-selling (or value/solutions selling).
9. Create a social engine to accelerate revenue growth.
10. Operationalize innovation by converting ideas into revenue growth.

Reorient Your Thinking about Growth: Hit Many Singles and Doubles and Not Just Home Runs

Singles and Doubles
In the game of baseball, homeruns are exciting and everyone wants to see someone hit one. The same goes for business and growth. Managers always want to go for the home run, the big breakthrough, or the grand new product. However, many should keep in mind that home runs in business don’t happen every year. Sometimes they don’t even happen in a decade.

Instead of aiming for that one grand home run, aim for singles and doubles. This is a surer and more consistent path. Of course, it is important to note that while aiming for singles and doubles, one should not exclude home runs. These singles and doubles come from an in-depth analysis of ALL the fundamentals of a business.

Avery Dennison
Avery Dennison is a $4.2-billion dollar company. Company president Phil Neal, tried without success to hit a home run, before he finally shifted to aiming for singles and doubles. The results were astonishing. The company immediately gained additional revenues, plus a new product that they were able to sell worldwide. While aiming for singles and doubles, Avery Dennison hit a potential home run. . . .