• adelaide

Growth Strategies for a New Business

Discover business growth strategies to help you build your business sustainably and ethically, with the University of Adelaide.

1,372 enrolled on this course

Growth Strategies for a New Business

1,372 enrolled on this course

  • 4 weeks

  • 1 hour per week

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Introductory level

Find out more about how to join this course

What is a growth strategy and why is it important?

Growth is an essential part of any new business, but how can you make sure you do this sustainably?

On this four-week course, you’ll discover effective sustainable growth strategies and how to successfully implement them in your new business.

You’ll gain an understanding of the key areas to focus on when starting a business, which have been identified and endorsed by industry professionals, to help give your business a solid chance at success.

By the end, you’ll know how you can build your team, scale your operations effectively, and develop an ethical and sustainable growth strategy.

Learn how to set realistic business goals

You’ll start by learning how to balance quantity and quality while growing your business, understanding how fast is too fast when it comes to growth.

To help you do this, you’ll gain the skills to set realistic business goals, including sustainable goals, and learn how to use feedback to inform your decisions.

Discover strategies for retaining and recruiting talent

To help you manage growth and develop an effective retention strategy, you’ll discover the factors that can help you hire the right people.

You’ll also learn how companies can retain talent and how you can build a diverse and inclusive team.

Understand how to design an effective business plan

Finally, you’ll discover the role of business planning as you explore frameworks for identifying threats and opportunities for your business. You’ll also learn how to measure success and adjust your business plan to ensure it is effective.

Using case studies and guided by academic experts, you’ll finish the course with a solid understanding of sustainable growth strategies and how to implement them in your new business.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 10 seconds Are you a new or existing business owner seeking to grow your business and take it to the next level but don’t know where to begin? In this course, you’ll learn how to develop an effective growth strategy and balance quality with quantity when scaling up your operations, as well as how to recruit and retain top talent to help your business succeed. With over 100,000 businesses starting every year and a success rate of only 10% for new businesses in their first three years, this course is essential for anyone looking to start and grow a successful business. Enroll now and take the first steps towards building a sustainable and profitable business.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    What is a growth strategy and why is it important?

    • Getting started

      This activity includes all the information you will need to get started in this course.

    • Introduction to Week 1

      Let's take a look ahead at what we'll be covering this week.

    • What is growth?

      Explore the definition of growth, and how it might vary across different industries and organisations.

    • How do we develop a strategy?

      Learn about the components of an effective growth strategy, including a case study of a company that has done this well.

    • Setting goals in the right strategy

      Find out how to set goals that align to your strategy, including a case study of a company in a unique market.

    • Growing ethically and sustainably

      Explore the importance of growing ethically and sustainability, and what this means for consumers and investors.

    • Assessment

      Do you understand what growth means for different industries? Can you set goals and understand the importance of ethics and sustainability? Take this test to check your knowledge.

    • Bringing it all together

      Let's reflect on what we've covered this week and take a look at what's coming up next.

  • Week 2

    How can you balance quantity and quality while growing your business?

    • Introduction to Week 2

      Let's take a look ahead to see what we'll be covering this week.

    • What are sustainable goals?

      Learn how to set sustainable goals, and strike a balance between quality and quantity.

    • Receiving feedback to balance growth

      Find out why feedback is so useful for a growing business, and consider how you would change in response to customer feedback.

    • The risks of growing too rapidly

      Find out more about the risks of growing too rapidly, and analyse a case study of a real company that grew too quick, and failed.

    • Assessment

      How do you help strike a balance between quality and quantity? What are the risks of growing to quickly and how can you manage these? Take this test to check your knowledge.

    • Bringing it all together

      Let's reflect on what we've covered this week and take a look at what's coming up next.

  • Week 3

    How can you recruit and retain talent?

    • Introduction to Week 3

      Let's take a look ahead to see what we'll be covering this week.

    • How to hire the right people

      Explore the key factors that will help you to attract and hire a diverse pool of great staff.

    • Retaining talent

      Learn why retaining talent is so important and develop strategies for keeping people in your organisation.

    • Building a diverse and inclusive team

      Find out how to create an effective team that is diverse in its people and its skills.

    • Offboarding people without negative impact

      Learn about why offboarding is important, and how to manage this process effectively. We'll also look at what can go wrong in the offboarding process.

    • Assessment

      How can you recruit and retain the right people and build a diverse team? Why is offboarding important? Take this test to check your knowledge.

    • Bringing it all together

      Let's reflect on what we've covered this week and take a look at what's coming up next.

  • Week 4

    How do you design an effective business plan?

    • Introduction to Week 4

      Let's take a look ahead to see what we'll be covering this week.

    • Business planning overview

      Learn about why a business plan is important, and practice analysing a business plan.

    • Identifying opportunities and threats

      Learn about opportunities and threats, and how to carry out SWOT and PESTLE analyses. Put learning into practice for your own business.

    • Lean Canvas and Business Model Canvas

      Find out about modern alternatives to the traditional business plan, and how to put this knowledge into practice.

    • How to measure success and adjust

      Learn how to measure success and adapt to achieve your goals. We'll also analyse a famous case study of a company that failed to adapt to a changing market.

    • Assessment

      Why is a business plan important? What are the advantages of modern alternatives? Take this test to check your knowledge.

    • Bringing it all together

      Let's reflect on what we've covered this week.

    • What's next?

      Let's reflect on the learning explored in the course and consider where to apply and further build on your new skills and knowledge.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Explain why a growth strategy is important when defining business needs and goals.
  • Identify relevant factors in selecting the right team to manage growth and formulate a retention strategy.
  • Assess the effectiveness of a business plan after examining successful growth strategies.
  • Compare quality and quantity in the context of business growth, aiming for balance and preparing to scale up while learning how fast is too fast.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed to empower business owners or those who are curious about business to walk away with confidence and clarity over their next steps, strategies, and how to launch their business.

The content is not industry-specific and is primarily suited for new or existing business owners who want to learn how to grow their business.

Who will you learn with?

I am passionate about creating engaging experiences for learners. I currently teach in a Master of Business Administration program. In 2019 I did a TEDx talk and founded a mental health non-profit.

Who developed the course?

The University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide is a world-class teaching and research institution. They are committed to developing quality students and lifelong learners who are recognised for their skills, creativity, global outlook and ability to succeed.

  • World ranking

    Top 110Source: QS World University Rankings 2023

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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$27.99

For the first two months. Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Tests to boost your learning
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$129/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Tests to boost your learning
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 8 Jan 2024

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

T&Cs apply.

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