When you think of your favorite corporation or social media giant what comes to mind? Do you ever wonder, how did they grow to that level?
If you are an entrepreneur running a start-up do you dream to grow to the levels of such giants? No doubt many entrepreneurs are ambitious and seek to create businesses that solve some of the most pressing needs of our society.
But have you considered that depending on how big and successful you want to grow, you will have to be clear on how you will navigate growth past the launch phase all the way to maturity? And still, once reached maturity, how will you then handle challenges specific to that phase?
For now though, let’s keep it to business growth pains a state of overwhelm ensuing from your business growth past the launch phase where most business owners find themselves in either overwhelm with all the growth or threatened by business failure if they fail to get a handle on these growth pains promptly.
What are these growth pains?
Business growth pains are challenges associated with business growth where the rate of growth is greater than the capacity to manage that growth.
“20% of small businesses fail in their first year, 30% of small business fail in their second year, and 50% of small businesses fail after five years in business. Finally, 70% of small business owners fail in their 10th year in business.” –Bureau of Labor and Statistics
Symptoms that your business is experiencing growth pains.
- Lack of a clear and spelled out roles.
- Lack of good and effective leadership.
- Lack of management and control systems.
- Lack of an effective people strategy.
- Lack of a clear strategic plan.
Why should you care?
The fact that you’ve pushed your startup from launch to this level of growth is commendable! You’ve worked hard, acquired the market and now that market is affirming what you already know–that you’ve got a great product/service. But be careful to not to camp here rest you find your ‘failing phase’ if you fail to address these challenges timely.
Business growth pains can sneak on you while you are busy hanging your laurels you could very wake up to a business failure if you neglect these issues. Nevertheless, if you can preempt these challenges and begin to plan ahead or address them as you encounter them, then it’s likely your business can push past this phase and on to the maturity phase successfully.
How to mitigate growth pains?
Here are some of the key ways to address business growth pains.
- Define roles, job descriptions and implement your organizational chart.
- Power up your leadership to be attuned to your current business status.
- Implement effective management and control systems to improve inefficiencies.
- Define a clear people strategy for how to acquire, retain, train and develop your talent.
Conclusion
Now that you have an idea of what phase your business is at, are you prepared to plan for your next level? The best way to mitigate business growth pains is to ensure that you’ve a plan in place. Followed by action for when you observe some of these key business growth symptoms manifest. This is a pivotal point as it could either overwhelm you to failure or inspire you to seek the right solutions, tools, techniques and deploy processes that power up your business to scale beyond your wildest dream.
So, are you experiencing business growth pains? Do you know what to look for? Are you equipped mentally, technologically, do you have a people strategy to handle the growth you seek and now are experiencing? If not, let me show you how you can make a few adjustments to avoid failure and pivot yourself for sustainable growth successfully. Schedule your complimentary session here or send a note at carolyne@vpfstrategies.com. Thanks!
Carolyne helps professional and organizational brands gain clarity for better results—productivity, performance and profitability. She is a speaker, the author of Being Grounded: 21 Days To Come Alive and Love Your Life, and a contributing writer for various publicatio
