How to Navigate Business Growth Strategies

Setting Growth-Stage Goals for 2024: A Leader's Guide Growth-stage leaders face constant pressure to push boundaries and scale our businesses. But without well-defined goals and a clear North Star metric, navigating this rapid growth can be chaotic. Here's a process-oriented approach to set ambitious yet achievable goals for 2024, including establishing a North Star Metric that unites your entire team: 1. Review 2023: - Reflect on achievements, challenges, and room for improvement. - Examine 2024 industry trends and roadblocks. 2. Vision Setting: - Visualize your business in the next 3-5 years, guided by your core values. This vision steers your goals and North Star Metric. 3. Identify Key Drivers: - Understand 3-5 factors impacting your growth: customer acquisition, product development, operational efficiency. 4. North Star Metric: - Define your primary value proposition (CAC, LTV, Profit, etc.) - Choose a metric that measures customer value. - Ensure it aligns with your growth objectives and is easily comprehensible company-wide. Examples: - Spotify: Time spent listening - Airbnb: Nights booked - Slack: Daily active users 5. Goal Setting: - Define clear, motivating, and achievable goals. - Encourage team discussions to build understanding and buy-in. - Incorporate stretch goals to push beyond comfort zones. 6. Goal Cascading: - Break down goals into departmental and individual objectives. - Ensure all understand their role in achieving the bigger picture and contributing to the North Star Metric. 7. Continuous Improvement: - Regularly track your progress. - Adjust your goals and metric based on market changes and in-house data. - Celebrate victories and address hurdles transparently. 8. Prioritize Well-being: - Maintain a healthy work-life balance and foster open communication. By following this process and focusing on a shared North Star Metric, you can set meaningful goals that propel your business forward while creating a positive, united, and high-performing team. Remember, the journey to achieving your goals is just as important as the destination itself. So, embrace the challenges, celebrate successes, and lead your team with purpose and clarity into 2024!

Most people confuse “growth” with marketing... Or worse, with just spending more on ads. Here’s how I break it down: Spending more 🟰 Growth? Not unless your LTV:CAC holds. Hiring a CRO 🟰 Growth? Only if your GTM motion is ready. Running ads, optimizing funnels, launching campaigns? All tactics. Not strategy. So what is growth? Growth is an operating framework. It’s how high-performance companies align data, capital, and goals. Here's The 7 building blocks of real growth: 1️⃣ Align on the real business problem and the guardrails that come with it. ↳ “We need more customers” isn’t a strategy. Try: “Add 2,000 new customers this quarter while keeping CAC under $50” Growth starts by defining the actual problem and the constraints around it. Can you clearly state the target outcome and the non-negotiables? Make sure you can define clear key results along with an understanding of non‑negotiable constraints Budget caps, payback targets, margin floors, timeline, etc. 2️⃣ Nail your North Star metric (and supporting KPIs) ↳ Are you going for the long-term profitability? Then a 12–18 month LTV:CAC might be your North Star. Focusing on short-term returns? Then focus on payback. Ensure you know the fundamentals of your P&L (margin rate specifically) 3️⃣ Get your data foundation right ↳ 10 tools. 10 teams. 10 different definitions of “customer.” You can’t scale if your CFO and CMO don’t trust the same numbers. 4️⃣ Strengthen the feedback loop ↳ Attribution isn’t just hard. ↳ Attribution is not enough You also need unified metrics that inform every team’s decision-making. 5️⃣ Build cross-functional accountability ↳ Marketing finds ways to scale within constraints.   ↳ Finance helps unlock dollars when constraints are met. Growth is a team sport - with one scoreboard. 6️⃣ Optimize for capital efficiency & scale ↳ It’s not just “what works" ” It’s what works best, and is it scalable and replicable?” ROI is your financial constraint. Scale is your objective. Obsess about both. 7️⃣ Execute fast. Iterate faster. ↳ Growth doesn’t come from big bets. It comes from tight loops: Test. Fail. Learn. Fix.  Repeat. What does your growth framework look like? * * * 👉 Follow me for more insights on how turn data into growth.

From Startup to Scale-Up: The 3-Step Growth Blueprint Every Business Needs Struggling to scale your business beyond the startup phase? You’re not alone. 70% of startups fail before reaching sustainable growth, often because they lack a clear strategy to transition from early traction to long-term scalability. But here’s the truth: Scaling isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what works, better. Why Most Startups Struggle to Scale At first, your focus is survival: getting customers, refining your product, and proving your model. But growth brings new challenges—operational bottlenecks, inconsistent revenue, and team inefficiencies. Without a system to scale, you’ll hit a ceiling fast. The 3-Step Blueprint to Scale Smart 🚀 Step 1: Optimize Before You Expand Growth doesn’t fix inefficiencies—it magnifies them. Before scaling, streamline your operations, automate processes, and eliminate what’s not working. (Example: Slack scaled by focusing on user engagement first, not just acquisition.) 📈 Step 2: Build Repeatable Revenue Streams Scaling without predictable cash flow is like running a marathon without water. Prioritize subscription models, long-term contracts, or high-retention strategies to create sustainable growth. (Example: HubSpot transitioned from a one-time software purchase to a subscription model, fueling its $1B+ growth.) 🤝 Step 3: Strengthen Leadership & Systems Your business can’t outgrow its leadership. Invest in delegation, culture, and operational systems to remove yourself from day-to-day bottlenecks. (Example: Airbnb scaled by empowering local hosts and standardizing operations.) The Desire vs. The Conflict Every founder wants rapid growth, financial stability, and industry authority, but many get trapped in burnout, cash flow gaps, and operational chaos. The difference? Those who scale successfully follow a structured business growth roadmap—instead of winging it. Your Next Step: Free Growth Audit Want a breakdown of where your business might be stuck—and how to fix it? DM me “SCALE” and I’ll send you a free Cheat sheet on Business Growth Audit. ⏳ Scaling is a process, not a leap. Take the right steps today, and your business won’t just grow—it’ll thrive. ♻️ I hope you found this valuable, please share with your network. 📌As a seasoned finance and operations leader with years of experience, I am passionate about organizational leadership and developing future leaders. I am currently seeking my next opportunity and welcome connections to discuss how my expertise can add value to your organization. Click "Follow" and 🔔 #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #EntrepreneurMindset #ScalingStrategies #StartupSuccess #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #GrowYourBusiness #StrategicLeadership #CEOLeadership #BusinessCoaching #ScaleUp

Businesses don't fail because they lack a great idea. They fail because they can't get enough forward airspeed to soar. 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻: - Founders have a great idea for changing the world. - They bootstrap to work with innovators. - Everyone is a potential customer. - Early success is mistaken for market demand. - The end of the runway comes before sustained flight. -------------------------------------------------------- How to transform a struggling business toward sustainable growth and lasting impact. --------------------------------------------------------  1. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 - I will guide you in identifying problems that customers will pay you to address.  2. 𝗕𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 - We will work together to create messaging and stories that drive buyers to contact you.  3. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗖𝗣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - I'll help you bring clarity to your ideal customer profile and we'll identify your total relevant market.  4. 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻 -  We'll develop a playbook to engage your ICP and provide them with valuable experiences at each touchpoint with your company.  5. 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆 - I default to being action-oriented. We will build consensus using the best available insights and move quickly.  Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act.  6. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 - We won't do everything, just the right things. You have precious few resources. We will use them wisely.  7. 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀 - When headwinds and crosswinds threaten your safety, we'll pivot the course while maintaining your long-term destination in sight.  8. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗹𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹 - Sustainable growth comes from building effective and efficient processes. We'll build cross-functional workflows that create value and profits.  9. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹—As we gain traction, it is crucial to expand our thinking about leveraging our success to benefit others. This is the path to sustainable growth and lasting impact. 10. 𝗡𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 - Running a business can be exhausting. When it's time to delegate, we'll build processes to sustain your vision and effectiveness through others. I'd like to talk with you if you're looking to add a growth advisor to your startup or scaleup. Let's talk about your vision and what's keeping you from growing.  Send me a DM to arrange a call. #fractionalcmo #gtm #businessgrowth