It’s a safe bet that if you do a quick internet search on business priorities that increasing topline revenue, improving sales performance, and increasing company value will show up in the top results. Growth matters.
To misquote Gordon Gekko: growth is good.
Growth tells us you are meeting a need in the market and customers see value in what you do. Growth gives your team more opportunities and expands your horizons. Investors are happy. If you ever watch ABC’s Shark Tank, you know that history and forecasts of growth are major areas of concern.
But it’s not all rosy. You must be prepared for growth and have realistic expectations.
Growing your company may require capital or decreased profitability while you invest in the future.
Your team may need to find newer, better ways to accomplish their tasks to be more efficient and maintain profitability. What got you here may not support you at the next level.
The company may outgrow the capacity and capabilities of its employees. This is especially true of leaders as the company moves from an idea to a company to a professionally-managed firm.
Strong leaders can navigate these obstacles by taking a long-term approach and making tough decisions at the right time. You must be prepared to protect the business.
However, there are two challenges of growth that can be devastating if you aren’t intentional about protecting them: maintaining culture and customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction is obvious. You won’t stay in business if your level of service drops. Customers have other choices. Can you maintain your current level of satisfaction while adding more customers?
Culture, however, is easy to ignore if you aren’t intentional. Rapid growth may mean rapid expansion of your team. Hiring strategies must include finding new team members who embrace your values. Leaders must work harder to model, foster, and communicate values as the team gets larger. “Culture eats strategy.”
Growth is vital, but exceeding your ability to absorb growth is dangerous.
https://opalpg.com/2018/08/21/growth-good-bad-ugly/
