How to Choose Your Next Growth Move

A business with good customers and a strong reputation has something worth building on. Growth might mean reaching people who do not know you yet, introducing a new service, or finding work that better suits your team.

The next move could be a partnership, an event, a sales conversation, or an advertising test. How do you decide which deserves a real chance?

At Lightkeeper, we begin with where the owner wants to take the business and what customers need. Then we look for practical ways to learn. Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares's Traction offers a useful structure for that exploration: 19 customer acquisition channels and the Bullseye framework for choosing where to focus.

What would useful growth look like for your business?

Before considering channels, finish this sentence: We want more of this kind of work, from these customers, because it helps us build this kind of business.

A contractor might want more restoration projects within a manageable travel radius. A specialty manufacturer might want relationships with buyers who place repeat orders. A service business might want to fill quieter months without overwhelming its busiest season.

Those goals call for different experiments. Talk with the people who handle inquiries, prepare estimates, and serve customers. Review recent wins and ask customers how they found you and what helped them choose. Their answers can reveal opportunities that an advertising report misses.

Also agree on what the business can take on. If new inquiries arrive, who responds? What will the customer need to understand? Growth becomes more useful when attracting customers and serving them are considered together.

What are the 19 Traction channels?

The 19 channels identified in Traction provide a broad starting list. The examples below are Lightkeeper's illustrations for established businesses, not prescriptions or reported results.

Some names sound more technical than the underlying idea. Engineering as marketing means making something useful that introduces people to your business. Community building requires ongoing relationships among participants; a single promotional event is a different commitment.

Give unfamiliar channels a fair hearing. A manufacturer comfortable with trade shows might overlook useful buyer education. An owner accustomed to social media might find a stronger opportunity through complementary businesses.

How does Bullseye help you choose what to try?

Weinberg describes Bullseye as three concentric rings: what is possible, what is probable, and what is working.

Outer ring: consider what is possible

Develop an idea for each channel. Be specific about the audience and approach. Research how comparable businesses reach customers, and question assumptions about what could work for yours.

Middle ring: test what looks promising

Select a few promising ideas, often around three, and run small tests. Examine the likely acquisition cost, available customer opportunity, and customer fit. Keep the initial commitment small enough to learn before expanding.

Inner ring: focus on what is working

Concentrate effort on the strongest channel, then improve its execution. If none looks promising, use what you learned to reconsider the ideas and try again.

The book addresses startup growth. Our application for an established Maine business is to focus the next growth investment while maintaining productive customer relationships and essential service. A successful referral network should inform the decision. A new experiment needs a clear purpose alongside it.

What makes a growth experiment worth running?

Write a short test brief before committing time or money. It should answer:

• Who and what? Name the customer, their need, and the offer or next step.
• Why this channel? State the evidence or assumption behind choosing it.
• What are the limits? Set a spending ceiling, staff-time allowance, and review date.
• Who owns it? Assign setup, inquiry response, follow-up, and recordkeeping.
• What would justify more? Agree on the customer actions and economics that would support another investment.

Include preparation and follow-up in the cost. A free speaking invitation can still require substantial time. An inexpensive inquiry can be costly if it repeatedly leads to unsuitable estimates.

Track how people heard about you, whether their needs fit, and what happened next. Record both their introduction to the business and the information that helped them decide. One customer may encounter several channels.

A test should be small enough to manage and substantial enough to teach you something. Three impressions or one unanswered email cannot settle a channel's potential. For long sales cycles, set an early learning review and a later outcome review. A qualified conversation is progress; it is not yet a sale.

What could this look like for a Maine business?

Consider a hypothetical specialty contractor seeking more suitable restoration projects for the following spring. Its owner and estimator agree on the project types, geographic area, and capacity available. They explore all 19 channels and shortlist three experiments.

Referral partnerships: Meet with three architects whose work overlaps the contractor's specialty. Explain suitable projects, learn what their clients need, and agree on a useful introduction process.

A speaking engagement: Give one educational session for owners of older buildings. Answer planning questions and offer a clear way to request a project conversation.

Search advertising: Test one tightly scoped service campaign with a spending cap and a page explaining the contractor's work, service area, and inquiry process.

Each test would need its own time allowance and review date. The team could compare suitable project conversations, agreed next steps, total effort, and eventual work won.

If advertising produced many calls outside the service area, that would prompt a targeting review. If architects introduced suitable projects that progressed, that would support another partnership investment. A workshop with engaged attendees but no immediate projects might warrant a later follow-up rather than an instant verdict.

How do you decide whether to continue, adjust, or stop?

At the review, return to the original goal and the evidence you agreed to collect.

Continue when the test brings appropriate customers closer to buying at a cost and workload the business can sustain. Increase the commitment in manageable steps and check whether the pattern holds.

Adjust when there is a specific explanation worth testing. Interested people may need clearer project examples, a more relevant invitation, or dependable follow-up. Change a defined part of the approach so the next round teaches you something.

Stop when the audience is unsuitable, the effort outweighs the opportunity, or the business cannot serve the demand responsibly. Preserve the learning for future decisions.

Small tests provide directional evidence, not certainty. Keep notes on timing, seasonality, and other changes that could explain a result. Revisit the wider channel list when your customers, capabilities, or growth goals change.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Bullseye with very little marketing budget?

Yes. Consider conversations, partnerships, or a small educational event if they fit your customers. Count staff time even when there is little cash spending, and choose tests you can complete and follow up properly.

Must I test three channels at once?

No. Several simultaneous tests can speed learning, but your team needs enough capacity to execute them well. With limited resources, run fewer and recognize that tests conducted in different seasons may be harder to compare.

Does this apply if most business already comes through referrals?

Yes. Understand which relationships generate suitable work and why. Your next opportunity may be improving those introductions or developing a complementary route to customers you currently miss.

Is this the same as A/B testing?

No. Channel exploration compares different routes to customers. A/B testing compares variants under controlled conditions. A few channel experiments should not be described as statistically proving that one approach is superior.

Choose one useful next step

Bring the owner and the people handling customer inquiries together. Agree on the work you want, explore the channel list, and write one test brief for the most promising idea. Set a review date before you start.

Lightkeeper helps businesses understand where they stand, align around what matters, and put practical improvements into motion. If you want help deciding which growth opportunity deserves a test, start with a practical conversation.