What is one reason you could give a business owner for why a business has to grow?
Don't explain, just list a thought... I did a training presentation recently on Creating Growth Mindsets for Business and started it with the question above. Avoiding cliches (grow or die), we brainstormed answers. There were so many but with such a great wealth of biz brains here, I thought it could be a great resource to Business Owners to have our community share 1 simple insight each on a briefly stated reason a business must plan/prepare/act to grow. (Please list 1, don't lecture) So many small business struggle with this, or struggle to give it meaning, I thought your thoughts could add inspiration...
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Oct 31, 2016
I'm reminded of a quote from a great Hockey player, Wayne Gretzky: "Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."
In business, as a leader, you need to have a vision of where your 'puck' (your business) is going to need to be. Investing in smart, strategic growth means that you'll be able to take the right shots for the long term. Be that creating a lifestyle, a legacy or making a great exit.
Oct 16, 2016
1) Because your employees need career growth. If you can't offer this, they will look for more exciting career opportunities elsewhere.
2) Because your clients need a reliable business partner. You need to keep your business alive for a long long time (if not forever). Anything that stops growing starts dying, this is true also in business.
As a first time entrepreneur, I have had a lot of struggles and oftentimes I have asked myself why shouldn't I just close down the business and go back to the comfort of working as an employee. The same answer comes up every time: Because our clients need our service and because my employees need their jobs. Growing is the only way we can solve our present struggles and ensure the continuity of the business.
Oct 14, 2016
Businesses inevitably confront this business growth dilemma sometime. Do we keep growing or not? Some, especially smaller companies, wonder if they can just establish a steady state and manage the business at a level that sustains their lifestyle.
- The reason they can't is that a ‘steady state’ isn’t practical today because business is such a complex evolving system of new technologies, productivity changes, maturing markets, changing economies and new competition over time that businesses are changing continuously.
- To remain successful businesses must understand all the forces acting on them and constantly adapt, refine and change – they ‘grow’ and keep ‘growing’ or they get into trouble soon enough. As Clayton Christensen put it, “One of the most consistent patterns in business is the failure of leading companies to stay at the top of their industries when technologies or markets change.”
- Another reason to grow is to increase the valuation of the business if you want the option of an exit at some point. The bigger and more profitable it is and the more potential it has for future growth, the greater the value.
In conclusion, growth is essential for businesses to survive, prosper and increase in value.
Oct 14, 2016
Grow to retain top employees. With growth comes revenue and opportunities for all.
Oct 13, 2016
It has to grow to survive, it has to innovate because there is always competition that is doing the same and so if you don't grow and stay ideal, then you could lose your business or become unprofitable.
Oct 13, 2016
I'll give you three:
1) Inflation. If you stay static, you're losing ground.
2) Competition. If you're not growing, someone else is probably going to destroy your distinctive competence.
3) Churn. You will lose customers. It's a better hedge to be trying to grow than trying to stay static.
And a counter-example:
Lifestyle businesses are just fine for the proprietor. If you are making enough money and you have time for other things you love, why should you listen to a bunch of people who say you're wrong for not growing?
Oct 13, 2016
Because while "growth" is commonly defined as "the process of increasing in size", it also means "the process of developing or maturing physically, mentally, or spiritually"...which means that a business MUST grow, if not in size or profitability, at least in understanding and the application of said understanding in servicing the needs of the market...b/c the moment you fail to do that, you begin the inevitable decline into obscurity.
Oct 13, 2016
Because of the competition. In any niche driven market companies are always researching new areas of growth; therefore, it is incumbent for all companies to continue to grow. Therefore, when a competitor threatens your nice business you are all resdy taking steps to build in to your business new and improved products and services to stave off the intruder to your .market
Oct 13, 2016
You can't put all your eggs in one basket. I knew a production company that scored a big TV show & that became its main focus & didn't cultivate any other project. A few years later, the show was canceled & they didn't have any other work. They closed, lots of employees out of work.
Oct 12, 2016
We set up a business not to stay where we are but to move on in life and possibly leave a legacy behind. When you set up a business, it is not for one day but for life, that is the mentality and vision you ought to have when setting up a business.
Oct 12, 2016
Ask this question - What do you want the business to achieve for you and your family? and allow that reason why to drive the conversation -at some point you might find some limiting beliefs or fears...
Oct 12, 2016
If this is a Mom and Pop operation or a lifestyle company then there is no earthly reason to grow. I know companies doing a million a year and throwing off $400k and the owners don't need or want the hassles of a larger company.
Oct 13, 2016
Maybe the earthly reason is that growth doesn't have to be solely measured in dollars. Shouldn't a mom and pop want to grow in experience, in efficiency so they might achieve the same income but grow their free time? Grow their happiness?
Oct 12, 2016
I disagree with your premise. The questions to ask are: 1. What problem or need are you trying to address? 2. What is the optimum size that will allow you to solve that problem or meet that need most effectively? Now, aim for that size. If you continue to grow bigger, you'll likely create problems.
Oct 13, 2016
It's not a premise, it is a question. Your answer discounts all the other answers because nothing stays the same. Your questions are surely good ones but they are about sizing not growing. Is the premise that growth creates problems any different than recognizing whatever need or problem you were trying to address will be met with new problems in the future regardless?
Nov 2, 2016
Tom, you make a good point; a business will always face challenges, and it needs to face those with resiliency and should evolve as needed. My point is that growth should not be an end in itself but should be the means to an end. Any healthy company should have a mission or purpose beyond simply growth. Often, if a company is making a positive contribution to its community, growth will allow it to contribute even more. But not always; sometimes there is an optimum size where growth no longer makes sense.
Oct 12, 2016
You can get more things done with more people. More brains put together, more ideas and insight.
While i agree - some business owners get stuck in the day grind rather than looking what they need to do to achieve there long term goals (if they have any!) Your statement should hgelp making the right decisions for the long term - well done :)