Organic growth

Growing your business through establishing the right infrastructure and ongoing support

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Organic growth is essential to the success and longevity of a business. Many organisations want to grow organically year on year but require a clear strategy and plan to realise and sustain their ambitions. A company focused on this shows the ability to innovate and transform and sends a clear indication to stakeholders and competitors alike about its potential future performance.

Achieving and maintaining organic growth

Clients come to us wanting to maintain or build their market share, increase their compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and reduce their  customer acquisition cost (CAC).

To achieve and sustain organic growth, building the foundation and getting the business prepared is key. Then, establishing a clearly defined strategy and tangible action plan is vital. In competitive markets, businesses with an effective growth strategy tend to have an increased market share in comparison to their competitors and are far more profitable.

Challenges to organic growth

Some of the main challenges to the organic growth of a business are time, lack of resources and not having a robust, actionable growth strategy plan in place.

  • Time

    In order to achieve the level of growth required, many heads of business have to make time to step back and think strategically and for the longer term. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for leaders to pull themselves away from the day-to-day duties of running the business. But that’s where we can help. Greater value and an increased level of organic business growth can be unlocked by working with an experienced commercial adviser.

  • Business growth strategy

    Many business owners have a clearly defined vision of where they want the company to go. However, the strategy detailing how they will arrive there is not always quite so well-focused. By seeking out professional guidance, the plan can become fully articulated to ensure the desired growth and vision comes to fruition.

    Rather than working in a silo, business owners typically benefit from an external, fresh pair of eyes reviewing their plans, often unlocking additional growth options and value. An adviser with experience across different businesses and sectors can work with a business owner on the art of the possible.

Overcoming challenges to business growth

With appropriate guidance, businesses can overcome challenges and setbacks. We help organisations through experience and by providing support to ease administration burdens, delivering a growth strategy and increasing CAGR.

Achieving your full organic growth potential

If a business is performing well at present but wants to move up to the next level, our industry-experienced advisory consulting teams can help to deliver these goals. We work with organisations to recommend and implement optimisations, operational efficiency improvements and strategic delivery plans.

As well as offering cutting-edge ideas and solutions to organisations aiming for growth, we specialise in providing accounting support, incentivising workforces and planning for the sustained success of a company.

We advise a diverse range of businesses and sectors, providing us with a significant insight into strategic issues and market trends, allowing us to help businesses articulate and execute their organic growth strategy. When working with a business, we develop objectives and key results (OKRs). By implementing monitoring tools to measure progression and feedback loops, we ensure that they are delivered successfully and on time.

Profit enhancement

Increasing profits is a key motivation for many businesses looking to grow. Our advisory consultants identify and deliver profit improvement plans for growing companies. We provide:

  • Performance analysis to identify the root cause of any underperformance. By using segmental data analytics along with a clear understanding of the overall business model, we shine a light on underperforming sales or margins. Most importantly, we identify and prioritise actions to improve them
  • Turnaround plans to rectify embedded issues and achieve targeted improvements. We also provide the necessary tools to monitor ongoing performance
  • Identification of any areas of cost reduction, and implementation of plans for improvement. This is achieved by combining benchmarking with bottom-up cost reviews, and using our industry experience to identify real world, achievable opportunities and deliver them
  • Value levers and actions to generate focussed improvements to the overall value of the business. This is achieved by ensuring money is invested in the right business areas to result in significant payback
  • Market mapping and customer value proposition to identify any clear opportunities for growth through onselling, upselling, new markets, new customers and new products
  • Exit readiness planning for owners looking to increase the value of their business

Evelyn Partners is highly experienced in working with businesses aiming for organic growth and are fully aware of any complexities which may be holding them back. We deal with them effectively and head on to drive growth and profitability.

Navigating tax risk and maximising opportunities

Our business tax team works with organisations to ensure that while pursuing growth aims, they remain compliant, but at the same time increase efficiency and maximise all available opportunities.

We review the way groups are operating from a tax perspective, including reviewing their corporate structures to make sure that they work commercially. In doing so, any potential commercial changes and possible opportunities can be identified and considered. In some cases, reducing a group structure could be a viable option. In others, growing it could be the way forward but in a more efficient manner.

There are often significant opportunities identified as part of this process, such as:

  • Optimising transfer pricing recharges
  • Maximising Research and Development (R&D) tax credits
  • Looking at Patent Box opportunities
  • Increasing capital allowance claims
  • Making the most of tax losses

Key tax considerations for growing businesses

  • Risk and compliance. Growing businesses need to be certain that their records are fully up to date and correct. Any previous errors could undermine the entire organic growth strategy. Reviewing a business and how it’s operating from a tax perspective via a tax ‘health’ check (a mini due diligence process) is an effective way to uncover any issues, especially ahead of a fundraise exercise when investors scrutinise all elements of company operations
  • VAT and indirect taxes. It’s important to make sure that all filings are present and correct and any other opportunities are fully taken advantage of
  • Employment taxes. This is vital for all organisations, in particular, those aiming for international growth, or who have globally mobile employees. International tax issues could be triggered as a result
  • Rewards and incentives. Consider if employees are being adequately incentivised. Often, this involves establishing a share option plan or reviewing one that is already in place to be certain that it is still fit for purpose
  • Employee benefits. Retaining and incentivising staff can also involve providing a fair and substantial benefits package, such as private medical care, or enhanced pension contributions. It’s important to consider the range of benefits available and consider this alongside the needs of a specific workforce
  • Technology and automation. Review whether finance functions and tax processes can be automated. Putting the relevant technology and associated processes into place can save costs and ensure compliance

Outsourcing functions to support growth ambitions

Outsourcing essential business functions can be advantageous to companies concentrating their efforts on organic growth. Evelyn Partners provides outsourcing functions to growing businesses. For many clients, we operate as an extension of an in-house team. This allows for the establishment of effective controls and infrastructure, without interrupting service delivery. Executives can focus solely on business growth while key administration and deadlines are still met for functions such as accounting, company secretarial and payroll.

Dedicated teams do not need to be built internally as the company grows because our business outsourcing services team can deal with all of these functions quickly and efficiently, all while keeping up with ever-changing financial requirements and regulations.

  • Decision making

    As a business grows organically, having access to reliable and up to date financial data is key to making informed business decisions. Our business outsourcing team helps clients by providing the required information on either a monthly or quarterly basis – whichever timeframe suits the needs of the business.

    As a company grows, relevant stakeholders need access to their financial statements to assess whether now is the opportune time to undertake a particular transaction or make a spend. We provide clients with the necessary information to support their journey during this stage of business growth.

  • Fulfilling statutory obligations

    Most UK companies are required by law to fulfil certain obligations. Through the vast experience and technical expertise of our company secretarial services team, at Evelyn Partners, we cover and complete a vast range of compliance, administrative and advisory tasks so business owners and key stakeholders can focus their efforts on organic growth. We ensure that businesses comply with the regulatory and governance obligations set out by Companies House.

Funding organic growth

Businesses will need some investment available either via free cash, debt or equity injections to achieve organic growth. For example, they might need to invest capital to expand their workforce or increase their operations to articulate their growth strategy. There are various fundraising options available to help you achieve your organic growth ambitions, each of which typically needs some kind of investment case and payback analysis for the stakeholder.

Achieve organic growth with Evelyn Partners

Organic growth is a key aim for many businesses, but it cannot be obtained without thought, effort and in many instances, professional guidance. For more information on how Evelyn Partners can help, request a call back or call us on 020 7189 2400.

Frequently asked questions about organic growth

What is organic growth?

Organic growth is achieved when an organisation uses its existing resources to increase revenue and, most importantly, profit. Many businesses aim to grow organically year on year but need a clear growth strategy and plan. In competitive markets, businesses that do not aim for at least some organic growth can lose their market share to competitors.

What are the benefits of organic growth?

The benefits of organic growth are:

  • Cost. Organic growth has a lower cost to deliver than acquisition, as a business generally uses the resources it already has. It also ensures the owners can retain control of the company, as this is sometimes lost or diluted in mergers and acquisitions
  • Sustainability. Although organic growth can take longer to achieve, it is often more sustainable than other means of growth as it springs off an existing customer base
  • Higher value. Businesses that demonstrate steady year-on-year organic growth are usually highly valued, which is especially beneficial when it comes to selling your business
  • Upselling or onselling. Organic growth can also be the most profitable method of business growth if it involves upselling or onselling to existing customers as it leverages the existing supply chain and overhead base of the business

How can the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of a business be increased?

Organic growth and CAGR can be achieved and increased by defining a growth strategy and executing a plan to deliver it.

Companies seeking growth should consider a range of factors. They need to:

  • Understand their customer, brand and value proposition
  • Know how to effectively market to their customer base
  • Explore what additional products, services or areas they could expand into, assess what is already working in the target market and any new market opportunities
  • Be clear on the ability of the business to upscale to meet any new demand, and any additional investment required

An organic growth strategy needs to be broken down into measurable, specific actions that are monitored throughout the year. Many businesses use live dashboards to monitor performance against these plans, make informed decisions and adapt their activity to ensure the desired level of growth is achieved.

What are the main benefits of business process outsourcing (BPO)?

There are many benefits to outsourcing essential business functions including:

  • Reduced costs compared to the salary costs of an internal team
  • Uninterrupted service at times of illness or annual leave
  • Additional resource availability during periods of increased pressure
  • Reduced internal staff management requirements
  • Having a dedicated team operating as an extension of your own