by Curt Clinkinbeard, Executive Director, The FAMEE Foundation
It happens every time someone talks about growing a business.
Another person, often an intelligent, but slightly more cautious individual, pipes us and says something like, “be careful with growth; you know, you can grow yourself right out of business!”
A smart warning and one that is technically correct. Growth can have pitfalls that often show up. There are many examples of companies who grew, experienced challenges, and found the growth was actually counterproductive.
However, our cautious friend leaves out one vital piece of information: Yes, you can grow yourself into many challenges. However, you can also starve yourself out of business, as well. In my experience, more companies starve than grow themselves into challenges. Reality is probably something like this…. “Be careful, you can grow yourself right out of business. But if you don’t grow, you could also starve!”
So what’s an entrepreneur to do?
In my opinion, a company must be focused on growth. Our hands are almost forced on that one; many people will tell you that if a business is not growing, it is dying.
But because growth has predictable pitfalls, the smart business person (a) will be aware of those common pitfalls, and will (b) plan specific action steps to avoid the most common challenges associated with the growth.
Pillar #9 in my book “Customer Pillars” challenges readers to “practice coordinated growth planning.” On page 259 of the book (and 319 in the workbook) I provide a list of 12 of the most common pitfalls to growth, along with a paragraph or two description of each.
Examples of these common growth mistakes include:
• Sacrificing margins to grow revenues
• Growth that decreases quality
• Growth with the wrong customers, and
• Poor receivables management
I appreciate those who provide warnings based around growth. They are smart enough to know about these very real risks. The problem, however, is that a business is meant to grow – and the goals we have for businesses, rarely come true if the business is not growing.
A great middle ground is to read these few pages, go through these common errors, and take proactive steps to avoid them.
Grow smart, but by all means, grow!
Curt Clinkinbeard, is the Executive Director of The FAMEE Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs “advance marketing excellence” and build profitable revenue streams. More information on their free small business marketing programs can be found at http://www.famee.org.
It happens every time someone talks about growing a business.
Another person, often an intelligent, but slightly more cautious individual, pipes us and says something like, “be careful with growth; you know, you can grow yourself right out of business!”
A smart warning and one that is technically correct. Growth can have pitfalls that often show up. There are many examples of companies who grew, experienced challenges, and found the growth was actually counterproductive.
However, our cautious friend leaves out one vital piece of information: Yes, you can grow yourself into many challenges. However, you can also starve yourself out of business, as well. In my experience, more companies starve than grow themselves into challenges. Reality is probably something like this…. “Be careful, you can grow yourself right out of business. But if you don’t grow, you could also starve!”
So what’s an entrepreneur to do?
In my opinion, a company must be focused on growth. Our hands are almost forced on that one; many people will tell you that if a business is not growing, it is dying.
But because growth has predictable pitfalls, the smart business person (a) will be aware of those common pitfalls, and will (b) plan specific action steps to avoid the most common challenges associated with the growth.
Pillar #9 in my book “Customer Pillars” challenges readers to “practice coordinated growth planning.” On page 259 of the book (and 319 in the workbook) I provide a list of 12 of the most common pitfalls to growth, along with a paragraph or two description of each.
Examples of these common growth mistakes include:
• Sacrificing margins to grow revenues
• Growth that decreases quality
• Growth with the wrong customers, and
• Poor receivables management
I appreciate those who provide warnings based around growth. They are smart enough to know about these very real risks. The problem, however, is that a business is meant to grow – and the goals we have for businesses, rarely come true if the business is not growing.
A great middle ground is to read these few pages, go through these common errors, and take proactive steps to avoid them.
Grow smart, but by all means, grow!
Curt Clinkinbeard, is the Executive Director of The FAMEE Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs “advance marketing excellence” and build profitable revenue streams. More information on their free small business marketing programs can be found at http://www.famee.org.
