There are only three ways to grow any business
"You cannot grow a business by doing what you always did. You grow a business by challenging and changing your assumptions, learning new things, bringing in new people who have different perspectives and ideas."
- Warren Buffet
Growth is inevitable with any business venture. It's easy to get caught up in thinking there are only two options: expanding or dieing. But, in order to maintain a healthy business and improve over time, it requires a commitment to growth. Sometimes that means making hard choices, and doing things you've never done before.
We all love the term "healthy business" - but what does that really mean? A healthy business is one that has profitability, cash flow margins that are high enough to pay expenses and reinvest in the business (including growth) while still having capital available for new opportunities, high levels of customer satisfaction so customers continue to use their services or purchase your products on a regular basis, positive cash-releasing activities (things like debt reduction, loan pay down and savings) as well as positive financing activities like debt raises and equity raises.
It's clear from the above that business growth is a zero-sum game, meaning the revenue pie we all carve up gets smaller over time. On the other hand, improving profitability (without losing revenue) over time increases your profit margins which helps you to expand your business.
We all know this - but many of us don't think it's true. We are so caught up in our daily routines that we think that focusing on growth and getting better at what we do takes too much time and effort. In reality, it only takes a couple of hours each week to make improvements that have a lasting impact. And those improvements don't have to be big or complicated either - small changes can make big differences over time.
Here are some quick, little things that can make a big difference in your business:
1. Spend your time and energy on the things you do best - that means not just how you do it, but how you think about it. Find a mentor (someone who knows what they are doing) and study what they do to get better at what they do.
2. Hire people who have the skills you need - don't rely on the skills of people who just happen to be friends or family members.
3. Meet people who are better than you are - in other words, pay your dues. Don't be afraid to try new things and learn from others mistakes (and successes). Try to find people who inspire you and motivate you to get better.
4. Sell more value - everything we do is marketing our company or products. Value that isn't understood or valued is not worth very much at all (the price we put on something determines what someone will pay for it). We need to ONLY sell value that creates high-revenue business results.
5. Make a big impact - remember, you aren't improving your business by making small changes. You are improving your business by making a big impact in your customers' lives and theirs.
6. Empower people - we can't do this alone. We need to get better at being team players, offering support and understanding of each other's roles in all we do. A healthy company is one with balance where individual contributions make up for any deficiencies on the team as a whole.
7. Improve communication - don't be afraid to share ideas and ask questions which lead to better ways of doing things. This is an ever changing world and our business needs to change too.
8. Get better - forget about growth for a minute. Just focus on getting better and better at what you do. You'll find that as you get better, you will naturally grow your business as a result of being amazing at what you do.
9. Invest in your business - not just your company but yourself so that you can be the best person to lead the company. As a leader, if we don't focus on our own development then we are holding back everyone else in our organization as well.
10. Don't stop learning - we need to continually educate ourselves so that we can keep growing and improving. This means being open to new ideas and concepts, not just what other people say is best.
Most importantly, remember that growth doesn't happen on its own. It requires an action plan and a set of plans for accomplishing the goals you set out for your company or company-type in the first place (like a business plan). If we don't have a clear idea of where we are going and what we are doing to get there, then growth will never happen.
Our time is limited - our resources are limited as well. In order to grow our businesses and make a big impact, we need to grow our skills and be accountable for our personal growth as a business owner, leader and entrepreneur.
We can't expect growth if we don't challenge ourselves each week to learn more, do better, grow stronger - in other words - be all we can be.
To your success! Braden Kelley 18/11/2010
P.S. I just launched a new website for my coaching services for entrepreneurs where I share my experience and knowledge on what it takes to build a profitable business over time ( http://www.bbradenshuttleworth.com ). It's not just about the money - but if you want to make a lot of it then I can help you. Check it out and join me for an hour of coaching to see if we can work together!
P.P.S. One last thing - this new site isn't just for entrepreneurs who want to network and put up their websites, blogs and other social media tools - though that's great! It also helps people start a business on the side by providing good content for local companies all over the world to post on their own site. See? It's not just for business owners but also for those who want to be an entrepreneur. Make sense? You can also see what it looks like here ( http://flipdowntown.com/blog/ ). Cheers!
P.P.P.S If you like what I wrote about, I'd really appreciate a vote for this article on Hacker News, Reddit and the other social sites so I can get in touch with awesome entrepreneurs and business owners who can help me build this community into something great!
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Conclusion
Note: If you have arrived here from Hacker News then please check out the follow-up to this post on the comments page of Hacker News: You Can't Build a Business in One Day - How To Turn One Day Into Business Growth and Profit.
I would like to leave you with a quote from Michael Masterson, who had this to say about growth in a company in his book The Idea Trap :
"Growth is not an event. It's not even a process. It's a mindset....Doing better than yesterday, with our limited resources (time, talent, treasure), and bigger dreams for tomorrow.