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 12, 2016
Focusing on growth will lead you to the ultimate point of having a business. Generating a profit with or without your involvement.
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 12, 2016
It's personal! Growth is an objective indicator of success. Success breeds confidence and confidence breeds even more success...
Oct 12, 2016
I don't think a business has to grow.
Let me explain.
Your use of 'Growth Mindset' harkens to the work of Carol Dweck, and certainly in people, a Growth Mindset is a strong underpinning for log term success, personal development, and achieving big goals.
But the usual meaning of growth in business terms is 'getting bigger' - more turnover, more profit, more staff, more success.
But for many people, stable lifestyle of plenty can be enough. The need for growth sometimes (yes, I said sometimes, before anyone accuses me f over-genralising) arises from greed - the need for more and a failure to recognise success... enough.
A business does not *need to grow. It needs to stay solvent, to treat its stakeholders with respect, and to act with integrity. There is no harm in one business growing... or one million.
But remember this, as businesses grow, they use more resources. At some point, if economies continue to grow, the resource utilisation will exceed the capacity of our finite planet to continue to meet the demand.
If our species successfully navigates some of the huge challenges facing us in the 21st century (many related to resources such as energy, water, and rare-earth metals) then weaning ourselves off growth, or finding new capacity beyond Earth are likely to be the challenges for our 22nd Century great great great grandchildren.
Not quite the answer you were after, I suspect.
Oct 13, 2016
Then how do you reconcile that everything in nature that is alive either grows, shrinks or dies. Couldn't one grow a company by finding ways to reduce resources? There is no point in history where the economics of man has not grown ever upward (with a few short downs and plateaus). While it is absolutely a valid mindset it has a ring of utopian rationalizing, and I'm not sure that isn't against the fundamental nature of mankind and, for better or worse, business.
Oct 16, 2016
Tom - your comment reminds me of the story of the consultant on holiday on the beach. Meets a fisherman relaxing with a beer and asks him what he does.
'I fish in the morning' says the fisherman. 'I sell my fish before lunch, grill a fish and then relax all afternoon chatting with friends'.
'Wow!' says the consultant, 'what a waste'. If you fished in the afternoon, you'd soon have a surplus to buy a second boat. You could hire a crew for it and make lots more money'.
'So?' says the fisherman.
'Well, then you could by more boats and soon you'd have a fleet. Then you could invest in a cannery business and soon you'd be CEO.'
'So?' says the fisherman.
'Then, you could sell your business to a multinational. You'd have enough money to retire. Then yu wouldn't have to work. Instead, you could just go fishing in the morning, grill a fish for your lunch, and then relax all afternoon chatting with friends.'
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 12, 2016
The Goal of any business is to be an increasingly successful company which cannot be achieved without growth.
Oct 12, 2016
If it doesn't grow, you likely are not sufficiently leveraging being an independent business owner ... and you might as well work for the man!
Oct 12, 2016
Growth means change, not necessarily enlargement. I'm actually writing a client post now on the concept of "enough". A wise business owner grows in the direction of her vision in order to keep her service fresh, on point and viable, whether that means creating a venture that ultimately employs thousands ~ or remaining an imaginative sole proprietor.
Oct 12, 2016
1.there is no such think as a point of sustainable perfect equilibrium in a world with competition.
2. regardless of your objectives, its never a question IF you should grow, but HOW you should grow
Oct 12, 2016
Oct 12, 2016
HI, Think about how important grows is not only to future relationship but if their isn't any current advancement to reflect on how do a business stay improvement towards satisfaction as a whole. It simply don't existed.
Oct 12, 2016
You can get more things done with more people. More brains put together, more ideas and insight.
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
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?
Haven't heard the "without you" idea stated, brilliant, should be a broad motivator!