Tag Archive for: business growth

Balancing the Three Unavoidable Zones of Business Growth

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Would you like to be able to predict the challenges you will encounter as a business owner, before they happen? There are actually three unavoidable modes every company experiences when it goes through growth: Preparation Zone, the Performance…

Getting Systems and Processes in Place as Company Grows

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Anyone who worked with me or has read my blogs knows how passionate I am about helping business owners create effective processes. Processes are usually not the sexy side of growth - others prefer to talk about buzzworthy concepts of innovation,…

Keeping the Customer Front and Center

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During rapid growth, you may find your business shifting from the desperate search for customers to the desperate search for ways to operate better, faster and cheaper. At this point, it's quite possible to lose sight of why your customers are…

Getting the Full Benefit From Employee Communication

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As the company grows, people within it tend to get held up in their roles without seeing the big picture. You will be surprised how many employees find it difficult to answer two fundamental questions about their workplace:  What business…

My Interview with High Stakes Partners: Challenges a Growing Company Faces

It’s the surprises that usually get you. Experienced business owners often warn one another, “Watch out when your company hits 50 employees! Everything changes then.” By the time you reach this size, the challenges you face sneak up on…

Limited Capital To Grow

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New business owners often assume they can grow their company by generating sales alone. In reality, there are a lot more components that help startups become a successful organization, including the right operating capital, sustainable profit…

What Is Your Company’s Builder/Protector Ratio?

When operating a business, you are constantly striving to cultivate growth. There is a management principle called the Builder/Protector Ratio that exists in different stages of development in every company. Builder/Protector Ratio is an important…

Establish Company-Wide Behaviors That Instill Accountability

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Accountability is an overused word and an underutilized behavior. It means, of course, “doing what you say you’ll do.” It’s also characterized by “owning up to a mistake, correcting it, and apologizing to anyone harmed by that mistake.”…

Obstacles to Growth: Difficulty Diagnosing the Real Problems

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CEOs often ignore issues that don’t align with their beliefs or shut down conversations that feel like a threat to their area of expertise. Then employees stop sharing, which creates bigger problems in the future. Businesses that want to keep…

The Three Speeds of Growth

When I speak to business owners about the 7 Stages of Growth model, sometimes they’ll say that they are not in fast-growth mode. Growth can take on many forms, and ultimately, the CEO defines what growth means for their company. You may choose…