Successful leaders understand that if their organization is to grow in the long term, they can't stick with a "business as usual" mindset, even when things are going well. They need to find new ways to increase profits and reach new customers.
The Ansoff Matrix was developed by H. Igor Ansoff and first published in the Harvard Business Review in 1957, in an article titled "Strategies for Diversification." It has given generations of marketers and business leaders a quick and simple way to think about the risks of growth.
Sometimes called the Product/Market Expansion Grid, the Matrix (see Figure 1, below) shows four strategies you can use to grow. It also helps you analyze the risks associated with each one. The idea is that, each time you move into a new quadrant (horizontally or vertically), risk increases.