Does Your Business Have Growing Pains?

Create a little chaos. It does wonderful things for growth.

As a business executive, you’re likely working hard to grow your business. And sometimes, that means long days and sleepless nights. It can be hard not to think about the business and the changes we need to make. When we try to keep doing what we’ve always done, we soon realize that it won’t work. Now we have growing pains.

Through our own experiences, and through some we have witnessed in other businesses, we’ve learned a few things. Pay close attention. We want to share these with you so that you can manage or reduce the pains that can occur when you are successful and your company is growing.

It’s all in your head.

Processes and systems aren’t written down. As a company grows, it’s especially important to create repeat-ability of processes. Looking through the lens of the Architect, you must build the foundation, structure, and support beams for the business. If the only person who knows the process is you, then you are the only person who can do the job. Documented processes help create consistency when delivering products, services, and experiences. This also helps when it comes time to delegate.

Who’s ready to promote?

When the answer is no one, it tells us you haven’t created any bench strength...and you haven’t been looking through the Coach Lens. At that point, the only option is to hire outside talent. Sometimes this is a good thing, but often existing employees are frustrated because they weren’t given the opportunity because we didn’t develop or train them. It’s good practice to have people ready to promote or move to different positions as the company grows.

Where are we going?

Often a leader simply wants revenues to go up but hasn’t created a picture of what the company looks like beyond the revenue...and what it will take to get there. When everyone knows what the future picture looks like, they can help make that vision a reality. Using your Strategist Lens, you must create clarity within the team and clearly communicate the direction. Without the big picture, employees can go in rogue directions, unintentionally making it harder to achieve the goals.

Didn’t see that coming!

When in growth-mode, you may be spending money as fast (or faster) than you make it. This is where the Visionary Lens comes in, making sure you’re looking on the horizon. Having a safety net is of the utmost importance. Safety nets are any actions that you do in advance to plan for the unexpected. Sometimes it is having cash reserves or a line of credit. Other times it’s having a “Plan B” if the original plan doesn’t work. Back up vendors and suppliers; people who are cross-trained. These are only a few examples. We’re sure you can think of others.

We’re living in the past.

When a business is small, everyone reports to the owner. Eventually, that changes if the executive can let go of some decisions. After years of growing, companies can get into habits of job titles and positions without challenging how effective they are. Use the Truthsayer Lens to examine current reality and get rid of assumptions. Look at rede-signing positions and reporting structures. Shake things up to reduce bottlenecks and process habits. Create a little chaos! It does wonderful things for growth.

As you can see, this list is short. We’re sure you know of other growing pains and we want to hear about them. Sometimes making a change can get started with a simple conversation.