Rapid Growth
How do you know if you’re growing too fast or slow? Is the current pace sustainable? Do you ever feel like you or your business are out of control? Do you really believe that your business must grow or die?
We’ve guided many business owners through their “growing pains” and if
you’re coachable we can likely help you too.
Rapid Growth
Are you ready to grow? Our client and podcast guest Joe Butler of Prescription Fitness and Butler Wellness Group wasn’t ready to grow the first time we met, but once he was ready things really took off.
We think you’ll enjoy hearing Joe’s growth story including some of the keys for how he grew from 1 location to 7. One of the key drivers to his success has been the fact that he hates losing more than winning!
Service Offerings
You’ve probably heard people talk about “good” problems vs. “bad” problems. When it comes to business, rapid growth can be one of those “good” problems if it’s handled properly. But it can also quickly turn into some “bad” problems including problems with fulfilling customer orders or a sudden increase in mistakes. Below are some of the most common challenges when dealing with rapid growth in your business.
As the owner, you’ll only be able to grow your business to a certain point on your own. In the small business world, we typically see companies get stuck somewhere in the $1-2 million sales range. The business will typically get stuck at this level unless there is a team to build around who can assist the owner with this growth. This usually starts with identifying a couple of key people to build around and splitting up responsibilities. If you don’t have at least one other good person in your business who you can rely on chances are you are going to continue to be frustrated by your business growth or you might grow out of business.
Does your team know how to get things done when you’re not around? Will your customers get the same type of quality service they are used to getting from you even when they aren’t dealing with you? How do you know? If you don’t have some systems in place, your growth is going to be more chaotic. These systems include things such as SOPs (standard operating procedures), which provide detailed steps for how things are done in your business as well as regular meetings with your team.
You can grow organically by adding one customer at a time or a new product or service. Or you can grow more rapidly by acquiring another business which means adding lots of new customers at once along with new team members and perhaps some additional products or services. We find that most small business owners don’t even think about acquisitions as a potential path for growth.
Do you ever feel like you’re doing more work and getting less in return? In the pursuit of never-ending sales growth, we can often lose sight of growing something more important than sales, your profits! A typical part of growth is trying new things which means, there are going to be some investments and likely mistakes along the way. Some of these will be more costly than others and will decrease your profits in the short-term.
One of the things you’ll notice about growth is that it requires some investment. In addition to a lot (or nearly all) of your time, this growth will require some cash. So are you patient enough to grow with the excess cash flow generated from the business or do you want some other money to accelerate that growth? Whether you’re considering investing your own money or looking to find an outside partner or two, you’ll want to have your story down to Present.
So if your business growth has been on your mind a lot lately, perhaps we should chat. If nothing else, we can give you some ideas for what to focus on next and maybe even provide answers to some of those growth questions you’ve been wrestling with.
Case Studies / Testimonials
Jeremy Orsky
Ohio Collision Group
Joe Butler
Prescription Fitness
Lisa Holly
Berea Moving