The goal of most businesses is to grow. Growth is exciting. Growth implies success. More sales, more customers, more staff, more profit… But the reality can be very different.
For many business owners, the pressures associated with growth can be immense. In the midst of a growth phase, we’re busy attacking problems, facing issues and managing change. It can seem a far cry from the exciting, early stages of new business growth, when ideas take hold, your first customers arrive and the business model proves its worth. But the success of any business depends on its ability to grow sustainably over time. Learning how to deal with the pressures of growth and planning accordingly is all part of building a successful business.
Reaching this next growth phase, however, means your business model is promising and you’ve achieved a degree of self-sufficiency and have, most likely, outgrown your initial set-up. It also means that it’s probably time to expand your controls and systems for managing the business, which means new people, new skills and new approaches. You also need to be prepared to change your behaviour. To facilitate business growth, leadership must have the right attitude and mindset. Too often we see leadership teams who are happy with ‘business as usual’ and this alone can stifle any growth potential. Other growth barriers include:
• Over-dependency on the founding team
• Constraint by initial systems – IT, communications, reporting – causing administration overload
