Business Growth no matter how it is generated comes with a few growing pains. A massive increase in revenue, workload and team members can cause some interesting problems. So, before you strive for massive immediate growth ask yourself, is your company fit for growth?
Capacity
When you work with a product, your supply is your capacity. You can make more, but you wouldn’t overstock your warehouses full of products without the consistent sales to back it up. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you over-sell you’ll have a backlog of orders. The longer it takes to fulfil those orders the more frustrated customers can become. Transferring this idea into services, the amount of work being taken on compared to the capacity of your team creates the same issue. Projects won’t be completed to the highest possible standard and it’s the clients that suffer. You need a deep understanding of how much work each person in your company is capable of and are comfortable with. If your team isn’t fit for growth then your business certainly isn’t.
It’s one thing to understand the extent to which one person can work, but constantly pushing for that during tough periods of someone’s life could cause burnouts, frustration and job-hopping. Just because someone can work extensive overtime hours doesn’t mean they should day-in and day-out. It’s important to push your team, just not off a cliff.
Sustainability
One of the greatest traits entrepreneurs and business leaders have is the ability to seemingly predict the future. If an offering has a shelf life, due to a change in direction of public view or you’ve decided to capitalise on a trend that is slowly losing its traction, growth just isn’t possible. A fluctuating market could cause sporadic growth and decline, so if you’re opening up a new avenue in your current business to garner some popularity and sales you have to be prepared for the sudden impact and sharp decline.
Take fidget spinners for example… Manufacturers across the world saw a sudden demand from suppliers looking to sell fidget spinners. You even saw major retailers get involved and specific spinner brands come out of the woodwork. Before long, however, the trend died down and there must have been thousands of unspun spinners spanning the globe. The sudden demand may have caused panicked bulk purchasing to meet the demand. Then, a sudden drop. Causing a net loss for those companies involved. When you latch onto a new product or service ensure you’re ready for the rise and possible fall.
Responsibility
When you’re a small business you have a small team of passionate people looking to grow and thrive together. As time goes on the team expands. Team leaders and created, head of departments are crowned and before long you have your intern making the coffee rounds…. Before social distancing of course, now we’re all on our own. What happens next is the increase in your responsibilities to your team and your industry. People look towards your company for guidance on how to move forwards and best practices. Especially if your company’s goal is to help businesses grow!
As you grow, so do your responsibilities. Suddenly your actions can affect more than just a handful of people. Before long you’re impacting more than a hundred people directly and thousands of people indirectly. As your company grows that responsibility can be a weight lingering over your shoulders. Some thrive under pressure, but it takes a hefty mental toll to keep pushing forwards. So ensure you’re ready to take on responsibility and have the fortitude to move forwards. Ensure you’re company is fit for growth personally before moving forwards professionally.
It doesn’t mean you’re on your own, however, with those responsibilities come support systems and people willing to help you through it all. If you’re struggling to move forwards there are courses, webinars, helpful guides and a killer one-page plan will help achieve your goals of quickly growing your business. Surround yourself with the right people and you’ll be able to handle anything.
