‘Uber is big, sir. It has helped me and many people in Nigeria.’

I’m contemplating what approach to take on a new marketing campaign for Nigeria’s #1 payments company, Paga. They serve millions of Nigerians: men and women making payments that also criss-cross the country and make life possible for all. They say, Paga exists to enable you achieve all the little things that make a difference in your everyday life. So when you think payments, think Paga.

‘This campaign needs to be big.’

I’m a growth strategist. I’m constantly thinking up new ways to leverage advertising, branding and digital to enable businesses to grow in revenue and in impact. Too many times, I’ve hindered my own creativity by trying to have ‘the Big Idea’ from the very start of my ideation process. It’s like I want to birth the idea with all the bells and whistles, at its full potential, with everyone loving it and buying into it. I see the outcome of many good ideas daily. I want my idea fully successful in my head. I’m not alone with this thinking.

I have studied the growth of many businesses, new and old.
I tend to focus on what the core idea of the business was at the start, is now and how that core idea has grown, bringing success.
In some cases, the core idea stays fixed, but the methods of execution grow – breadth. In other cases, there’s one main process of execution and the business focuses and gains depth.
There’s no right or wrong way, just different ways.

The one thing that always amazes me about the success stories from idea to mass success is this – I believe that there is absolutely no way that the creators at the point of having the idea would have been able to envisage how successful their ideas would be in reach and impact.
A tried-and-tested business model might help forecast earnings.
Mimicking certain aspects of another fruitful business would give you hope of also making it big.
Even in advertising, the Big Idea, when presented to the client, is never a sure winner.
And if you do get it past the client, that still doesn’t guarantee it will be a hit when it goes public.

In the 1880s, Herman Hollerith had an idea. He figured out a clever way for using punchcards to measure and collate data. He helped achieve the US census in less than half the time it had taken them in previous years. That idea gave birth to what is today known as IBM.

Uber founders had an idea.
They automated taxi hailing.
That idea today has given Musa, Dare and many other drivers I’ve gotten to know personally, with a fulfilling job and income.
In turn this helps better the society and encourage new businesses built on the Uber model.

Paga founders had an idea.
Paying daily bills without cash.
That idea today has given rise to thousands of entrepreneurs and strengthened the financial services sector in Nigeria.
It means small businesses are able to collect payments digitally and grow their businesses without incurring the high costs of doing business; Mama Ida can guarantee when and how she will get payment for her goods which she sold to a customer in a town six hours away.

The consistent theme with these ideas is that they required people to need, know and love them for them to become big.
The founders sowed the ideas.
Testing, modelling and marketing helped water the ideas.
People, connecting with the refined ideas, helped them blossom and grow.

There is no Big Idea.
There is only ever a small, lonely, humble and hopeful idea.
It’s people – well engaged and truly catered to – who make it big.

Daniel Oparison, Oludasile ti D’mastermind

A business will not succeed or fail simply based on the information provided in a growth strategy document, however a well crafted strategy, built on data-driven insights and human-centered design can help any business become successful by building around the only thing that matters for revenue generation – the customer. In summary, great growth strategy guides you on how to create and capture value.

In more detail, a Growth strategy enables you to plan and track the growth in your brand positioning and business revenue. It also allows you to be more efficient in generating new revenue opportunities by focusing on the value that customers can perceive. It allows you to truly differentiate yourself from your competition in the eyes of your customers.

In this increasingly disrupted, complex and interconnected business world that we operate in, the companies that are succeeding are the ones with the courage to have a divergent and human-centered strategy. Growth creates opportunities for your people to develop their skills, attracts the best talent to your company (and away from rivals), and creates wealth for you and your investors.

It’s easy to set a growth goal but difficult to achieve it. These companies have a plan for growth. But how can you be confident the strategy that powers this growth plan will work?

Here are critical questions to test the growth Strategy for your business

• Winning Aspirations: Is there a proposed, reliable strategic direction that aligns with your company’s overall value proposition in the markets it exists to serve? Is there a sustainable plan that suffices through the period of growth and beyond?’ This is an essential question as the answer really defines what you’re trying to accomplish.  

• Identify Barriers: As shortcomings in the growth plan become apparent, are you mindful that you need to learn from your execution and can apply these findings quickly, to help fine-tune our tactics?

• Where to play: Here you need to be sure you have defined the Scope of your business. What you will do and more importantly, what you will not do. To be ahead in the market you need to know about your competitors. Figure out how you can do things differently and better than they are doing. Do you have a plan? Are you satisfied that both internal and external stakeholders clearly understand your growth plan ? Is this plan designed to get you ahead by creating real value for your customers ?

• How to Win: Have you identified a competitive advantage that is truly unique and valuable to the potential customers? Have you defined what could erode this advantage? Your competitive advantage should be able to distinguish your company from your competitors. 

• Capabilities: Are you satisfied that all implications of the proposed direction have been considered thoroughly, implementation is possible, and all supporting business goals, objectives and strategies are realistic, practically achievable, affordable and comprehensive?

• Management system: Are you confident that management accountability is clearly defined, the growth plan execution is adequately resourced and key tactics are assigned to the correct people to implement? Are you set up to objectively measure your performance and output?

With these questions you not only test the efficiency and effectiveness of your growth plan, it also serves as guidelines to create one. Remember that your growth plan never stops. Growth creates opportunities for your people to develop their skills, attracts the best talent to your company (and away from rivals), and creates wealth for you and your investors. If your growth plan has answers to these few questions then you’re on the right track.