Good Case Study About Growth Strategy

Introduction

Small businesses that are performing quite well always tend to give a notation for growth. Therefore, small business owners must seek the best path for their businesses to grow. However, for an entrepreneur to be successful in improving or growing his or her business, then he or she has several things that he probably needs to consider. These factors when ignored might perturb success at this new height of performance. These factors are inclusive of organizational structures, and varying management styles. The owner must also consider the new environment for the business in the sense of the new challenges that the area presents, the new strengths and opportunities that it offers for a chance of improvement. Kelly therefore needs to focus on the new business environment and maximize on every chance she has to facilitate the transformation of her job into what she desires for her business.

Indeed, transforming of a business is not easy, especially when it involves moving to new heights which imposes new challenges that the business has never seen before. Therefore, Kelly needs to first of all perform a SWOT analysis of the new market that she is moving to (Wilson & Bates, 2003). This is to be done in a bid to solidify the decision to transform her business further. It basically involves a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis of a market. This will also enable Kelly and her staff to prepare for what is to come in advance. She then needs to redefine the mission she has for her business in order to map out the path that the business is aiming to follow. Since she is the only management, a consensus has already been reached implying that there is a clear vision that is perfectly concise. This vision is simply the vivid imagery of the direction that Kelly’s business is being prepared to follow.
Kelly then needs to design an action plan for her business and this is very vital in the business growth strategy. This plan is inclusive of the new objectives that the business targets to achieve in its new environment putting into consideration the new challenges and strengths that were identified by the SWOT analysis of the new market and environment. The objectives, in order to be more definitive, need to be as quantifiable as possible. Apart from the objectives, the action plan includes the tactics, methods and techniques that the business will employ in order to achieve the outlined objectives. The strategic plan also needs to be budgeted. The plan involves the use of money one has and this is indeed important to know how much the whole plan costs. Finally, Kelly needs to develop a fall-back plan, known as a contingency plan whenever issues come up and hinder the strategic plan set for his business.

Business form

Considering that Kelly’s business is in the prospect of gaining ground apart from the current location, it is indeed transforming especially when it comes to management. Kelly’s business would best suited in the new environment if it transformed from a sole proprietary business into a partnership because of the new branch that is in prospect of being strategized. This would ensure the simultaneous management of both the businesses. In order to ensure that there is maximum profits by the business; Kelly has to ensure that both the old market and the new market are exploited maximally by his business. Thus, a partnership business would indeed be a more appropriate business instead of the sole ownership. In other words, the business strategy that Kelly and his consultants need to formulate must include the transformation of the business into a fully fledged partnership and this would further facilitate further growth of the business in future.

Financial assistance

Kelly’s goals, both short-term and medium-term goals are clearly stated. She wants to make sure that her business grows exponentially into a lucrative enterprise. She also wants her business to include a variety of food products and services as well as, increasing her business competitive edge in the region. To be able to accomplish these goals, Kelly should indeed have a good source of capital from which she can ensure that her capital is safe. These sources of financial assistance can be achieved through options such as loans from a reputable bank or micro-financing co-operations. In addition, she can get capital from the government grants and incentives that base on the country’s budget in order to finance her business strategies for growth. In other words, Kelly should plan on how to get capital from these sources in order to ensure that her action plan is set in motion.

Organizational structure and staffing needs

When it comes to the changes that will occur in Kelly’s business, it is best to consider the organizational shift. The most appropriate structure for her new strategic business is the divisional organizational structure. This type of structure is very different when compared to the obvious functional structure. As much as the functional structure is based on the division of the business into functional groups that handle specific related tasks within the business such as sales department handling sales related activities, the divisional structure basically involves the business being divided into divisions located in different geographical areas each handling a specific task for the whole business (Taylor, 2006). This type of structure favors Kelly’s business and goals which imply the inclusion of newer and diverse food products for her business, because it is going to be in divisions.
The business will also have a new and different staffing property. Kelly’s business was majorly encompassed of Kelly and her part-time workers that handle the concessions in different areas of the town. With her new business strategy, Kelly would require different staff and that will include full-time employees that would serve the new organizational structure that would come in play. Therefore, her new staffing requirements would be more wanting than the previous considering that she would employ more workers for her new division in the new vicinity for her business. Therefore, the new staffing procedures would therefore imply new orientation that would solely focus on necessities for running the business effectively. In each division still, Kelly should organize her employees in a fitting functional structure for improved performance. Despite the divisional organizational structure, Kelly would implement the functional structure as a component of the organizational structure.

Customers and promotion

The new propositions for change would indeed be faced with a lot of varying challenges and among them are the customers. The change implied by Kelly’s strategy involves the indulgence into new food products apart from her famous sandwich that she produces. The new products that she wishes to introduce to her customers can be advertised to them through the up-selling process to her customers. This involves the making aware of the new products that she has on the market. In addition, Kelly would reinforce the up-selling with advertising criteria such as the use of posters and flyers in her current location. This promotion is to make the clienteles to know of the new products and since they love her sandwich product, they would be indeed curious to try out the new products that she has in store for them.

Ethical issues and social responsibilities

When it comes to ethical issues, Kelly would certainly be faced with plenty. The main ethical concerns would majorly be tied to human resource management (HRM) which is mainly concerned with the hiring, management and dismissal of the employees of her business (Sims, 2002). In this regard, ethical concerns might arise during the hiring process of the employees to work in the new staff that is to be created in each of the division that would result in the growth. The positions regarding the position of each employee regarding the nature of his or her position in the business as well as the expectations that Kelly would be having for him or her during the job hours should be quite clear for the new employees. This is so in order to protect one and his employee from unrealistic expectations that one might have about the nature of the job.
The hiring process should be clear, concise and upfront in the advertisement for the available positions in order to stay clear of ethical improbabilities during hiring. Apart from hiring, the welfare of the employees falling under their management in HRM dictates that the employees do have rights based on the occupational safety and health (Sims, 2002). Therefore, it is an ethical worthy endeavor for Kelly’s business to ensure that her business provides the employees with the utmost safest environment possible for them to work in. finally, in the dismissal of an employee, it is ethical to do so only when the there is a valid reason presenting itself that would indeed interfere with the business performance. In some cases, the best way to solve this ethical concern is to consider other options available such as further training, or temporary leave to correct the issue. In a nutshell, the strategic growth of a business is necessary for a successful growth of a business.

References

Sims, R. R. (2002). Managing organizational behavior. Westport CT: Greenwood Press.
Taylor, J. (2006). A survival guide for project managers. New York: American Management Association.
Wilson, P., & Bates, S. (2003). The Essential Guide to Managing Small Business Growth. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.