Business growth
Decide where next year's growth comes from before you spend on it.
This is for the owner whose sales are up but cash is not, or whose marketing budget went without one order to show for it. The articles are about deciding where to spend before you spend it, from the plan and the budget to buying radio, metro and LinkedIn in Bengaluru.
209 articles, written for owners and sales heads.
Start here
The three to read first.
How to create a practical growth strategy for an SMEA growth strategy for a small business is four decisions on one page: which customers, which offer, which route, and what you will stop doing to pay for it.
How much should an SME spend on marketing?Work the budget backwards from the orders you need, not forwards from a percentage of revenue. Then split it between channels and review it when the numbers change.
Why your business is growing but profit is notRevenue rising while profit stays flat usually means discounts, the wrong customers or an uncalculated acquisition cost, all visible in your own records.
Every article
All of them, newest first.
Showing 12 of 209 articles to explore
- Business growth
Building an off-season plan for a hotel, resort or venue
How to fill the quiet weeks with local residents, corporate meetings and low-cost packages, using a planning sheet that sets the floor price before the offer goes out.
6 min read · 14 Oct 2026 - Business growth
Sample sizes and trial kits for beauty brands: a worked example of cost and gain
A worked example with illustrative figures showing when a beauty trial kit pays for itself through the second order, when it only adds cost, and the one number to find before you order minis.
6 min read · 13 Oct 2026 - Business growth
Why your marketing generates enquiries but few sales
When enquiries arrive and orders do not, the loss is rarely in the marketing. Trace one month of enquiries through five points where they drop out, and fix the biggest gap first.
6 min read · 10 Oct 2026 - Business growth
How to identify your ideal customers
Identify your ideal customers from your own past orders: pick the best ones, find what they share, write one paragraph about them, and list who you will not chase.
6 min read · 10 Oct 2026 - Business growth
How to decide your marketing budget
Decide your marketing budget by working backwards from the orders you want: average order value, close rate, enquiries needed and what an enquiry costs you.
6 min read · 10 Oct 2026 - Business growth
How to create a marketing plan for a small business
A small business marketing plan can fit on one page: a goal in enquiries and orders, who it is for, the offer, two channels, a budget split and how you will measure it.
6 min read · 10 Oct 2026 - Business growth
A one-page marketing plan for the owner of a company with fewer than twenty staff
A single-sheet marketing plan for a small company: the goal, the buyer, the offer, three channels with owners, what to stop, and a short weekly check, filled in for a worked example.
6 min read · 6 Oct 2026 - Business growth
Agency, freelancer or in-house: a plain comparison for a business spending modestly
What an agency, a freelancer and an in-house marketer are each good at for a business with a modest budget, where the hand-offs between them fail, and how to combine two without paying twice.
6 min read · 4 Oct 2026 - Business growth
Gifting season for toy sellers: birthdays, festivals and school breaks
How an online toy seller can win gift buyers who search close to the date: gift-ready picks by age and budget, wrapping and a note, an honest delivery cut-off, and a countdown plan for each festival.
6 min read · 2 Oct 2026 - Business growth
A growth roadmap on one page
A one-page layout for a growth roadmap that sets priorities across offer, channels and capacity, gives each priority an owner and shows how to cut the list when it runs too long.
5 min read · 27 Sept 2026 - Business growth
What a buyer should ask an agency about its case studies
Six questions that show whether an agency's case study describes its own work, what else changed that year, and whether the client will confirm it, with a scorecard to use on the call.
6 min read · 25 Sept 2026 - Business growth
Festive season planning for online sellers: work back from the courier's last safe date
An online seller plans Diwali backwards: the courier's last safe date for each zone, then your own order cut-off, then the ad build-up, then stock and packing. A count-back sheet, and what to do after the cut-off.
5 min read · 24 Sept 2026
The full list of 209 articles, titles only
- A checklist before you open in a new city
- A growth roadmap on one page
- A marketing audit checklist an owner can run alone in one afternoon
- A marketing funnel for a business with long sales cycles and few buyers
- A marketing plan for a small architecture practice, on one page
- A new market entry plan for a regional company
- A one-page marketing plan for the owner of a company with fewer than twenty staff
- A one-page mission and vision a salesperson can say aloud
- A SWOT analysis for a small business, worked through for a made-up tractor-implement dealer
- Account-based marketing for a firm with fifty target accounts
- Agency, freelancer or in-house: a plain comparison for a business spending modestly
- An ideal customer profile worksheet for a B2B SME
- Apartment advertising in Bengaluru: who you ask, and what they will allow
- B2B audience targeting: the list, the buying unit and the trigger
- B2B lead generation for industrial businesses
- Building an off-season plan for a hotel, resort or venue
- Building your own catalogue when a buying house has always sold for you
- Bus advertising in Bengaluru: who the panel actually reaches
- Business goals for the year: turning "grow" into three targets your team can act on
- Cash on delivery: when it helps sales and when it eats the margin
- Cinema advertising in Bengaluru: the halls, the languages and what you can buy
- Class packs, memberships or pay-per-visit: which model suits your studio
- Competitor research in two hours: what to collect and what to ignore
- Contracts and data terms with US customers: what to ask a lawyer before you sign
- Core values that a small team will actually use in decisions
- Corporate and bulk buyers: opening a second revenue line in a retail shop
- Cost-plus or value-based pricing: which fits an Indian SME
- Digital downloads and templates: protecting files without making buying painful
- Electronics product launches: how to build interest before the stock arrives
- Export enquiries from the first call to the first shipment: what the overseas buyer asks
- Export readiness for a small manufacturer: a checklist you can score yourself
- Fashion accessories at low prices: how to make small orders pay
- Fashion drops, sale days and markdowns: planning a calendar that does not teach buyers to wait
- Festive season planning for online sellers: work back from the courier's last safe date
- Food export enquiries: how to answer a foreign buyer's first message without overpromising
- Funnel experiments for a small business: one change at a time
- Getting on a plant's approved vendor list: the paperwork and visits a component supplier should expect
- Gift cards and vouchers: selling a promise to pay without confusing the buyer
- Gift hampers for festivals: a range that sells in the season and keeps working the rest of the year
- Gifting season for toy sellers: birthdays, festivals and school breaks
- Go-to-market plan for a new B2B service
- Go-to-market strategy checklist for a new product
- Good, better, best: packaging a service so buyers pick the middle
- Greeting and enclosure cards: how to sell something small without losing money on shipping
- Growth vs capacity: when to stop selling and start delivering
- Handloom copies undercut us online: how to show the original
- Hardware shops going online: what to list first when you stock thousands of items
- Heaters and air purifiers: serving seasonal demand without idle stock
- Hidden costs in marketing: what the quote leaves out
- Home food business on WhatsApp and Instagram: when it is time for a proper store
- How a small foundry gets listed with larger OEMs and their vendor development teams
- How an Indian company can win US customers without a US office
- How can a professional services company generate leads?
- How much should an SME spend on marketing?
- How much should I spend on advertising?
- How much to spend testing a new city, and when to stop
- How to advertise during the festive season
- How to advertise to apartment residents
- How to advertise to business owners
- How to advertise to CFOs
- How to advertise to CTOs and CIOs
- How to advertise to CXOs when they never fill in a form
- How to advertise to founders
- How to advertise to HNIs when no platform will sell you wealth
- How to advertise to HR heads
- How to advertise to IT employees
- How to advertise to mall shoppers
- How to advertise to marketing heads
- How to advertise to parents
- How to advertise to purchase managers
- How to advertise to retail business owners
- How to advertise to school owners
- How to advertise to small business owners
- How to advertise to women entrepreneurs
- How to audit your advertising
- How to brief a media agency so the quote is comparable
- How to build a lead generation system for an SME
- How to build a media plan
- How to build buyer personas for a local business
- How to calculate cost per lead and customer acquisition cost
- How to choose a media mix
- How to choose which city to sell in next
- How to combine offline and digital advertising
- How to create a marketing plan for a small business
- How to create a practical growth strategy for an SME
- How to cut channels from your advertising plan
- How to decide your marketing budget
- How to enter a new city
- How to generate B2B leads
- How to generate more enquiries
- How to get export orders: a practical route for Indian manufacturers
- How to identify the right target market for your business
- How to identify your advertising audience
- How to identify your ideal customers
- How to increase local brand awareness
- How to launch a new service to your existing customers first
- How to lower customer acquisition cost without cutting marketing
- How to market technical products to business buyers
- How to measure offline advertising
- How to plan a hyperlocal advertising campaign
- How to plan an advertising campaign
- How to plan the admission cycle: what to prepare before the enquiries arrive
- How to price a gym, studio or spa membership without discounting yourself into a corner
- How to price a service when every customer asks for a discount
- How to promote a new product
- How to read a marketing agency proposal and spot what is missing
- How to run a campaign post-mortem
- How to run a quarterly marketing review that changes the next quarter
- How to set a budget when you cannot yet say what a lead is worth
- How to set an advertising budget
- How to size a market before you enter it
- How to split a budget between digital and offline
- How to test demand for a new product before you buy stock
- How to track competitors without a research budget
- Hyperlocal advertising in Bengaluru
- Individual donors or CSR funding: which should a small NGO build first
- Is a trade show worth it for a small manufacturer?
- Is it worth listing on aggregators and delivery apps? A cost check
- Is outsourcing sales and marketing safe for a small business?
- JustDial, IndiaMART and Sulekha: which paid listing is worth renewing
- Laser cutting job work: how to get regular customers rather than one-off jobs
- Lead aggregators or your own marketing: where an institute should look for students
- Loyal old buyers and no new ones: how a Howrah or Kolkata manufacturer adds one new route
- Market intelligence for an SME: what to track and how
- Market research methods small businesses can actually use
- Marketing a Srinagar handicraft business to buyers outside the Valley
- Marketing a trade people only need once: how to be the name they remember
- Marketing and sales in one budget: how to split spend between getting enquiries and closing them
- Marketing during a slow season: what to cut, keep and start
- Marketing for a business that sells on trust and referrals only
- Marketing myths owners repeat: five things your last agency told you that are not true
- Marketplace or your own website: which should an online seller start with?
- Metro advertising in Bengaluru
- Mistakes businesses make when they open a second city
- Mobile accessories online: why the same cover sells at five prices
- Moving from referrals to a repeatable pipeline: a small firm's second stage
- Newspaper advertising in Bengaluru: which paper reaches which city
- Newspaper, radio or hoarding: choosing offline media for a store opening
- Nykaa or your own website: how a beauty brand uses both
- Offline or online marketing for a 30-year-old family business
- Online course refund questions: the rule to write down before the first student pays
- Online shop or marketplace listing: which suits a local retailer
- Outdoor advertising in Bengaluru: what is actually out there
- Outsourced marketing department or in-house hire: what each really costs you
- Planning for seasonal demand in home services
- Portal leads, aggregator leads or your own database: which gives a finance business better customers
- Portals, your own website or channel partners: where property leads should come from
- Pricing a course: one-time fee, cohort or subscription
- Pricing a custom service: how to show the price without losing the buyer
- Pricing a software or IT service: fixed, subscription or time-and-materials
- Pricing for a new market: when to charge less and when not
- Pricing logistics services: per kilometre, per pallet, per shipment or contract
- Private clients or tenders: which construction work a small contractor should chase
- Private label or your own brand: the questions a food processor should answer before agreeing
- Product-market fit for an SME: signs you have it and signs you are guessing
- Product-market fit signals a small business can see in its own records
- Productising a service: turning hourly work into defined packages
- Questions to ask before hiring a marketing agency in India
- Quick commerce, marketplaces or distributors: which route should lead for a new consumer brand?
- Radio advertising in Bengaluru
- Reducing dependence on one big customer: how a logistics firm spreads its accounts
- Retail counter or project sale: where a building materials maker should put its effort
- Retainer, project or performance fee: which pricing model suits you
- Revenue model choices: one-off, retainer or subscription
- Riding jackets, gloves and boots: selling a new rider's first kit as one bundle
- Salaried employees or business owners: choosing the customer segment you can serve well
- Sales, marketing and operations goals: check that the three can all be true at once
- Sample sizes and trial kits for beauty brands: a worked example of cost and gain
- School stationery lists: turning each school's list into a one-click kit
- Seasonal and event-linked demand: planning for peaks and quiet months
- Seasonal demand for wellness in India: planning around January, monsoon and festival months
- Seasonal demand in plastics: planning enquiries around your buyer's calendar
- Selling abroad from India: what to settle before the first international order
- Selling apples when the buyer sets the price
- Selling books online as an independent bookshop: what a marketplace cannot give a reader
- Selling kitchen products online: bundle by situation for the buyer setting up a new home
- Selling litchi, silk and honey outside Bihar: build the list before the season
- Selling medicines to institutional and tender buyers: how a pharma manufacturer prepares
- Selling Panipat home furnishings to importers and dealers
- Selling pet accessories and toys without becoming a price-only listing
- Selling to Chandigarh's Industrial Area and IT Park from outside the tricity
- Selling your tea under your own name when buyers know you only through the broker
- Service marketplaces or your own bookings: how a home service firm should split its leads
- Serving buyers in several states from one office
- Should I use digital or offline advertising?
- Spice, flour and rice mills: selling beyond the local market without losing margin
- Subscription or one-off packs: which suits a nutrition brand's buyer?
- Tenders for government hospitals: how a device maker keeps a standing document file
- The best advertising channels for B2B companies
- The cost of a bad quote: what to compare other than the total
- TOWS analysis: turning your SWOT into actions
- Trade shows and buyer meets for defence and aerospace suppliers: preparing to follow up
- Value proposition for a commodity product: what to say when the price is the same
- Wedding-season and festive advertising: a three-week plan for retailers and jewellers
- What a buyer should ask an agency about its case studies
- What a D2C brand in India has to build beyond the Shopify store
- What an advertising report should contain
- What is the difference between marketing and sales, and who owns the enquiry?
- What should I fix first: website, ads or follow-up
- What to send an agency before the first call: a one-page brief you can fill in tonight
- When a fractional CMO makes sense for a company with no marketing head
- When cheaper is the right choice and when it is the expensive one
- Where to start marketing when you have never done any
- Which advertising channel is best for my business?
- Which marketplace for which product: Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Meesho, Nykaa and your own site
- Why marketing agencies do not publish prices, and what a fair quote looks like
- Why your business is growing but profit is not
- Why your marketing generates enquiries but few sales
- Yoga mats and fitness accessories on a marketplace or your own store: which one keeps the margin
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
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