Whenever we offer advice on strategy to our clients, a question that crops up all the time is, what is the “right” model of growth? Clients need to be convinced a lot on this point of there being not one right model, but there are several paths to growth that could lead to success.

Take for example the area of outsourced marketing services which, one could say, is where we belong. We have chosen to offer the breadth of marketing solutions, from advice to implementation, across branding, content and research, but play in only a few verticals. Our thinking is that business understanding is key to carving out marketing solutions, and hence we have decided to understand a few industries well and make ourselves totally relevant from a marketing perspective.

However, the model you find more often in the market is that of an agency- research or marcomm – research agencies choose to specialize in answering questions about the market, and typically specialize in the consumer or B2B space. Likewise, commmunication agencies, usually called ad agencies, specialize strangely, more on visual communications and also on writing. The reason for this could be that much of outsourced marketing still looks to the FMCG industry as its main clientele. And here, creative mass marketing still has relevance.

Prayag’s model is more prevalent in the US and to an extent in the UK though.

Ultimately, a business can grow successfully if it is able to demonstrate a clear value proposition to its targeted client segments. The model of business is a corollary of this.

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Sometimes, we get so daunted by the overall business target that we neglect to objectively examine/evaluate how to achieve it. Supposing, a $1M company has set itself a goal of reaching $50M in the next 4-5 years – at first glance, it looks like an uphill task. However, by doing detailed business review and mapping out strengths and gaps, one can chart a course to achieve the $50M. This will involve assessing market opportunities in your areas of expertise, understand what the market is looking for as well as what competition is doing/planning. With this understanding, the business will have a fair idea of what to focus on in the next 4-5 years and need to pen it down through a business plan.

As I’m working on a similar exercise for a client, I’m amazed at how much planning can help. Breaking down of the target into smaller achievable components is eminently possible as it distributes responsibility across various quarters. Emerging and mid-sized companies will do well to embark on such a exercise and the efforts will definitely pay off.

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