Intuition
"We want to grow 20%" is the most common boardroom demand, and a growth case asks how. The instinct is to brainstorm a hundred ideas; the skill is to organize the universe of growth into a few clean avenues, then judge which fits this company's strengths and economics. Growth has a shape: sell more of what you have, sell new things, reach new people, or buy your way in.
The crucial discipline is remembering that growth isn't automatically good. Profitable, executable growth is good. Growth that burns cash and stretches the company thin is how companies break.
Framework
A growth structure (the Ansoff lens helps):
- Existing products → existing customers — sell more (frequency, share of wallet, price).
- New products → existing customers — extend the line, cross-sell to your loyal base.
- Existing products → new customers/markets — new geographies, segments, channels.
- New products → new markets (diversification) — riskiest; usually last resort.
- Inorganic — acquire, partner, or license to grow faster.
For each avenue, test: market opportunity, our ability to win, profitability, and execution risk. Then prioritize.
Worked Example
A premium yoga-apparel brand wants to double revenue. Existing/existing: raise frequency via a membership program — quick, on-brand. New product/existing customer: launch footwear and recovery gear to its loyal base — strong fit. Existing product/new market: expand into Europe — large but operationally heavy. New/new (a yoga-studio chain): far afield and capability-stretching — deprioritize. Recommendation: lead with the loyal-base plays (membership + adjacent products) because they leverage the brand's biggest asset — its devoted customers — at the lowest risk, then layer in geographic expansion. You generated options, then ranked them by fit and risk.
Pitfalls
- Brainstorming ideas without a structure to organize and prioritize them.
- Chasing the biggest market instead of the best fit with the company's strengths.
- Treating revenue growth as the goal while ignoring whether it's profitable and executable.