sustainable growth strategies for bootstrapped businesses
As bootstrapped business owners, we play by a different set of rules. Everything we do has to tie back to the bottom line, and help customers succeed. We can’t afford to do anything that doesn’t increase revenue, and we also can’t afford to do anything that doesn’t add value to customers, because you can’t coerce people into paying you recurring revenue.
Let’s talk about each of these sides a little bit.
Activities that grow revenue: I’m not a fan of trying to track granularly. It’s a fool’s errand because you’ll never get to the bottom of it and waste all of your time trying to track. Instead, what I do, is if I have a hunch about an activity that would drive more revenue, I run a pilot for three months. If revenue goes up for those three months, then I stop the activity. If it doesn’t go up, I also stop. If revenue went up during the pilot, then you see if revenue falls back down once you stop.
If revenue falls when you stop, then try again, but with more power this time. If revenue goes up more than during the pilot, then you know the activity works. That’s how you identify activities that grow revenue. Once you identify one, add it to your core growth levers list and start experimenting with the next lever.
Customer Value: I only listen to ideal customers, and only when we’re having a conversation. In the moment, when people are frustrated, they will say anything and ask for anything to alleviate their frustration. That’s a terrible time to get feedback on what you can do to add value. Instead, have conversations with ideal customers on a regular basis and listen to what they are saying. Value can come from almost anywhere. A product update, a partnership, an integration, content you are producing. Whatever it is that adds value, add that to your list of growth levers or stability pillars.
When an activity is both one that drives revenue and one that adds customer value, it falls into the sustainable growth matrix. In the sustainable growth matrix you can scale, go forever, and build a sustainable business.
