I was told by a mentor years ago that if an individual or business is not growing, it is dying. I am not sure if it is that black and white, but I am extremely confident that growing and expanding is more exciting and profitable 98% of the time. But growth can be elusive and difficult to obtain when you are stuck in the day to day minutia of running a business or an organization.
Almost every business, organization, church, project, sales team or leader has experienced some if not all of the following thoughts:
- The startup excitement phase has worn off.
- You and the business are making money, but it is not the big payday you were expecting.
- It is difficult to imagine the business or organization being bigger without it requiring massive amount of time and energy on your part.
- Working harder and more hours has only caused exhaustion and frustrated you and your family or team.
- The organization may not be going backwards, but it is definitely not growing.
- If we just had more (capital, good employees, customers, members, leads, etc...), then life would be great!
- There are days…and nights..that you question whether or not you made the right decision by starting this company or organization.
- You have fleeting moments where you daydream that you could just start over, but that is almost impossible now.
While it would be easy to blame the economy, employees, lack of money or any other excuse for a dying business or organization, it has been my experience that barriers to growth can be categorized into 3 main areas:
Revenue
I have never coached, consulted or owned a business that would not have responded positively to new or additional revenue streams. I can even say that organizations that add people such as civic groups and churches see an increase in growth and momentum when new people walk through the doors and join. New business, new revenue, new customers, new members and new ideas are the gasoline that can ignite positive momentum in a business, organization or group. And most families and individuals would be very excited to add more revenue streams into the household budget.
Revenue Question: What can you do today to add new revenue or new business to the organization?
Structure
When a building is built, the foundation is critical because the entire structure must rest its weight on the foundation. If the foundation is weak, then the building will not be able to withstand the pressure of the building, but especially the pressure of people, equipment, wind and storms. Business and organizations are no different. I do not totally agree with the Field of Dreams “build it and they will come” philosophy, but I do know that it will be difficult for an organization that meets in a room with 20 chairs to have 100 members. Or a business that has the ability to produce 5 widgets a month will never be able to sell 20. Facilities, processes, systems and organization should be in place to allow the business to stretch to new levels.
Structure Question: Is the structure in place for your business or organization to grow by 10% or more?
Leader
In the early 90’s I read a Leadership book by John Maxwell. In the book he discussed the “Law of the Lid” where he stated that organizations cannot grow beyond the leadership abilities of the leader. That principle has always stayed with me through the years with every company or team I have consulted or coached. If the leader is stuck and not growing, then the organization or business is most likely stuck and not growing. As a leader you should be reading more, learning more, and growing your thought process and mental abilities more than anyone in the organization. If the leader is stagnant, then the business will eventually get stinky and die.
Leadership Question: What can you do as a leader to prepare yourself for a larger business or organization?
Almost every business, organization, church, project, sales team or leader has experienced some if not all of the following thoughts:
- The startup excitement phase has worn off.
- You and the business are making money, but it is not the big payday you were expecting.
- It is difficult to imagine the business or organization being bigger without it requiring massive amount of time and energy on your part.
- Working harder and more hours has only caused exhaustion and frustrated you and your family or team.
- The organization may not be going backwards, but it is definitely not growing.
- If we just had more (capital, good employees, customers, members, leads, etc...), then life would be great!
- There are days…and nights..that you question whether or not you made the right decision by starting this company or organization.
- You have fleeting moments where you daydream that you could just start over, but that is almost impossible now.
While it would be easy to blame the economy, employees, lack of money or any other excuse for a dying business or organization, it has been my experience that barriers to growth can be categorized into 3 main areas:
Revenue
I have never coached, consulted or owned a business that would not have responded positively to new or additional revenue streams. I can even say that organizations that add people such as civic groups and churches see an increase in growth and momentum when new people walk through the doors and join. New business, new revenue, new customers, new members and new ideas are the gasoline that can ignite positive momentum in a business, organization or group. And most families and individuals would be very excited to add more revenue streams into the household budget.
Revenue Question: What can you do today to add new revenue or new business to the organization?
Structure
When a building is built, the foundation is critical because the entire structure must rest its weight on the foundation. If the foundation is weak, then the building will not be able to withstand the pressure of the building, but especially the pressure of people, equipment, wind and storms. Business and organizations are no different. I do not totally agree with the Field of Dreams “build it and they will come” philosophy, but I do know that it will be difficult for an organization that meets in a room with 20 chairs to have 100 members. Or a business that has the ability to produce 5 widgets a month will never be able to sell 20. Facilities, processes, systems and organization should be in place to allow the business to stretch to new levels.
Structure Question: Is the structure in place for your business or organization to grow by 10% or more?
Leader
In the early 90’s I read a Leadership book by John Maxwell. In the book he discussed the “Law of the Lid” where he stated that organizations cannot grow beyond the leadership abilities of the leader. That principle has always stayed with me through the years with every company or team I have consulted or coached. If the leader is stuck and not growing, then the organization or business is most likely stuck and not growing. As a leader you should be reading more, learning more, and growing your thought process and mental abilities more than anyone in the organization. If the leader is stagnant, then the business will eventually get stinky and die.
Leadership Question: What can you do as a leader to prepare yourself for a larger business or organization?
Tim Winders has over 25 years experience as a business owner, entrepreneur, coach and consultant. He founded Accelerate Growth NOW to provide business owners with the training, coaching and resources to double, triple and 10X their business. To learn more and to claim your FREE business growth resources, visit AccelerateGrowthNOW.com.
