Cracking the Code to Your Company’s Growth

Very few business professionals talk about challenges that a company of 500 employees or less faces during growth. Almost no one talks about how to overcome the risks, but there is a formula for success!

James Fischer researched 650 successfully running small businesses across 35 industries and found that their complexity increased with the addition of employees. This information laid the foundation for the 7 Stages of Growth model. To this day, it is the only model designed to help business owners and CEOs predict, focus and adapt to growth in a structured way. 

According to Key Small Business Statistics, only 30 out of 100 companies that enter the marketplace are still in business after five years. Why? Because too many of them operate in a state of “figuring it out as they go.” Successful companies continue to grow despite the chaotic forces of expansion, because they know how to navigate change. By learning and implementing the 7 Stages of Growth model you can do that too! 

Stage 1: Start up. Generate, track and preserve cash
Primary challenge:  Cash flow

• Do you know where every dollar is spent?
• Are you selling every day?
• Is cash flow a priority?

Stage 2:  Ramp-up. Sell absolutely every day
Primary challenge: Hiring quality people

• Do you know key indicators?
• Are you setting clear expectations so people know what’s expected of them?

Stage 3: Delegation. Release control to capable supervisors and then lead them
Primary challenge: Staff buy-in

• Do you recognize signs of growth?
• Are you aware of what your people care about?
• Are you beginning to delegate specific duties/tasks?

Stage 4: Professional. Hire or train professional managers
Primary challenge: Project management

• How do you feel about your management team?
• Is it a struggle to keep up with your processes?

Stage 5:  Integration. Integrate management team to focus on the organization
Primary challenge: Improve sales

• How do you know when you and your management team make good decisions?
• Is the management team aligned with your issues?
• Is there a relied-upon sales process?

Stage 6:  Strategic. Implement a company-wide health survey once a year
Primary challenge: Staff buy-in

• Have you recently examined your vision, mission, goals?
• Have you tapped into an organizational health survey?

Stage 7: Visionary. Overhaul the business model
Primary challenge: Products not differentiated

• What do you do to keep innovation a top priority?
• How do you keep ahead of your market and customers?
• Do you regularly challenge the status quo?

Bottom Line

You must adapt the way you think about your business in order to build a growth-smart company. At Mission Critical Teams, we specialize in creating effective solutions for the difficulties and challenges that obstruct or damage the natural growth of entrepreneurial enterprises.

Need help with navigating business growth or leadership coaching? Contact Mission Critical Teams.