Are You Ready for Growth?

“Most business owners I work with are eager to grow, but surprisingly, many are also a bit reluctant.“ "I'm not ready!" they cry. This ezine is about how to tell if you are ready for growth, and how to get ready. 

Perhaps you own a highly successful restaurant, and you want to open a second one. Maybe you're a financial planner who has personally consulted with each new client up until now, but you now have more interested customers than time for personal appointments - or perhaps clients are requesting a service that you don't currently provide, but one that you could, given a commitment of resources towards this prospective new branch of your company. 

"When thinking about your potential business expansion, you find yourself alternating between a feeling of excitement and anticipation - and a sense of tension. You begin to wonder why you are feeling this anxiety. What, you ask yourself, is causing all this stress? The reality is that most business owners, at one point or the other, say that they want to grow their business—but do they, really? Here's how you can tell. You can use the following list to rate yourself.

The first rule is "The more you can let go, the more you can grow."

There are no right or wrong answers in this self-test and it’s very important that you’re honest with your answers, so that you can determine if you’re ready to grow and so that you can effectively tackle any barriers to your success. Unlike many other self-tests, there aren’t any questions that can simply be marked “yes” or “no.” Instead, there is a list of business philosophies that, if followed, can help your business expand. So, look at the opening phrases of each bulleted point and do some soul searching on the topic. Are you ready to grow? 

1. The better teams you can build... the faster you can grow. 
People who grow companies rapidly know how to put a good team in place, then move on to the next thing. They become a leader of independent teams.

How to build growth teams. The essential roles. How to get the most from your team.

2. The savvier your advisors… the faster you can grow. 
You let go of the “lone ranger” approach to running the business. As your business grows, get advisors who are one step ahead of you. 

What to look for in an advisor. Which advisors should you replace?

What new ones do you need?

3. The more you can inspire and guide… the faster you can grow. 

You must be a leader, not just a manager—or a worker bee. 

The ladder. How to climb it. 

4. The more surplus or profit you generate… the faster you can grow. 

Profit is the engine of growth. Low margin companies gasp for the air provided by profit, and they huff and puff going up the slightest growth curve. 

How to instill a culture of profitability. Calculate the profit you need. Set profit goals, not just revenue. 

5. The more capital you bring in from the outside… the faster you can grow. 

Companies that grow from internal profitability grow at a much slower rate. Those who obtain bank financing grow somewhat faster, and those who collaborate with people or companies providing angel or venture capital can grow quite quickly – sometimes too fast. 

Source of capital vs. growth rate. Pluses and minuses of capital. Debt vs. equity. Cost of capital from different sources. How to become more bankable. 

6. The better you use your time… the faster you can grow. 
Invest your time strategically; be less concerned with saving time or managing time. 

Using your time strategically. How to recapture your time. What your time is worth. 

7. The better support you have… the faster you can grow. 
Do not be the vice-president of minutiae. Who’s the highest skilled person you can bring in to free you up to focus on growth? Successful top execs have a “chief of staff” who does everything. 

Define superman or wonder woman. What would your chief of staff do for you? How can you justify hiring a really top quality person? 

8. The bigger you can envision… the faster you can grow. 

Your expanding vision creates the space into which your company grows. A small vision constricts the growth of your company. 

How big is your vision? How big would you like it to be? What are the stepping stones? The thicket? 

Which path should you take? Evaluate your options. 

9 The more you think things through ahead of time… the faster you can grow.

That means planning, including strategic plans, action plans, and project plans, with built-in review and accountability. 

A practical planning process. The action plan. What are your toughest challenges? What can get in the way? How to include your key challenges into your action plan.

10. The more you can innovate and adapt… the faster you can grow. 

You must introduce new ways of doing things, so that you do not get stuck behind the curve; be careful, however, not to add new facets to your business so quickly that the organization becomes chaotic. 

Where are your opportunities to innovate? Internal operation. Products and services. Distribution and marketing. What are your competitors doing? 

How to manage innovation.

11. The more open you are to changing direction… the faster you can grow. 

You must be somewhere between the Titanic plowing through the night sea and the hound dog scrambling frantically to find the scent of the rabbit. 

How do you know when it’s time to change direction? How do you keep your antennas out? What is the wrong time and the wrong way to make a change? 

How to manage change. Smoothing the transition hump. Get people to jump onto your bandwagon.

12. The more you insist on top performance... the faster you can grow. 

Do not let mediocre performers dictate your rate of growth, whether they are employees, customers, vendors, or professionals. 

How high can your people go? How do you hold them back? Who has reached their ceiling? What can you do with them? 

Which outsiders have you outgrown? Customers. Vendors.

Professionals.

13. The easier it is for you to reach the people who want what you offer… the faster you can grow. 

You’ve got to know how to beat a path to their door. How do you find their addresses? 

Who do you want to reach? Which customers do you want more of? How do you find them? As you innovate and change, what new ways will open up?

14. The closer you are to your customers’ desires… the faster you can grow. 

You must keep attuned to what your customers want or do not want, what they like and do not like, and what they wish they could achieve. Perhaps they don’t even realize what they’re ready to accomplish . . . Do you? 

How do you stay in touch with your customers? What else should you be doing? What should they be ready for? How to communicate the value you provide. 

15. The more productive your operation… the faster you can grow. 

Be keenly aware of the efficient use of your overhead. Pay close attention to the return on investment per hour of your time, along with the revenue and profit generated per employee. Realize that you can scale up, outsource, and train other people to do what you do. 

Where are the bottlenecks in your operation? Apply the Problem Solvent. How are you the bottleneck? 

Where are your financial bottlenecks? 

Assess your growth infrastructure (in Which Path)

16. The more knowledge you can get out of your head… the faster you can grow. 

Create manuals, checklists, and training seminars that teach employees all the magical things that you think only you can do. 

What are the things only you can do? How can these be handed off to others, completely or partially? 

17. The easier it is to transfer knowledge and wisdom… the faster you can grow. 

If you are in a knowledge industry, knowledge is your key resource.

You must preserve it, spread it around, use it effectively, and review and update it continually. 

What is the core knowledge and wisdom in your organization? In your work with your customers? How do you/can you capture this, and pass it on? 

18. The more systematized you get… the faster you can growth.  

All routine tasks must be described in user manuals, checklists, and software programs, so that you and your people can focus attention on the big, creative challenges. 

What activities in your operation can be turned into routines? Who (besides you) could do this? How? 

So, are you ready to grow? If not, what is holding you back?

How can you tackle these challenges? Perhaps this self-analysis will allow you to formulate an effective and successful plan for growth. 

But, guess what? Here’s the kicker. These strategies and philosophies are not just important if you want to grow your business.

The exact same steps for success hold true if your main interest is building profitability or streamlining operations so that you have more time for other things. 

You can no doubt think of other successful strategies to add to this list and I’d appreciate it if you’d send them to me. If I use yours, you get your choice of one of our downloadable e-books.