In my consultancy, the first question posed to potential clients is –Is Your Business Ready to Grow? This seems like a simple question, but it is the most important area of communication a business can have with a consultant. Many companies are excited about the potential to expand the products or services, but don’t have a realistic picture of how that happens. Growth like all things in business is a process that requires risk and risk management to be successful; I can tell you from experience that these two areas are like kryptonite to most business owners. Everyone wants to grow, but they want the risks of that growth to rest on someone else’s shoulders. When clients come to me and think they are ready to go, I ask a few simple questions to determine whether the company is serious about growth or just likes the sound of it.
1. Where do you want to go?
Growth has to take you somewhere you haven’t been. It doesn’t need to be dramatic to be growth, but it does need to be new.
2. What do you want to avoid in getting there?
The things that you dislike will give you clues as to where you want your business to go. Avoided situations illustrate weaknesses in your current strategy that may be preventing you from the growth that you desire.
3. What strategies did you decide against?
The unused strategies will show you current growth patterns and may help to highlight strategies that will help your company think outside the box.
4. How much time do you have?
In business perceived growth can often occur suddenly and without warning, but sustained growth occurs when long-term growth strategies have been developed to deal with the difficulties that accompany growth at any speed. Companies have to always be aware of the potential for growth and react (not just plan) accordingly.
5. How much are you willing to invest in your company’s growth?
What most of my clients miss, especially small businesses is that growth is expensive. Most businesses think I have a new product, I’ve identified the market, and everything else will fall into place. Nothing could be further from the truth, there is a cost to putting that product on the market and if you are not a natural marketer you have to learn how to be one. If you are not able to produce the product or service in house, how much are willing to spend to outsource? Can new concepts or refined prototypes be developed within your budget? Businesses have to be realistic about how much of their expansion budget they will use to pay for marketing, distribution, and development.
