Stability or chaos, what’s your choice?
I’ve just read Jordan Peterson’s book “The Twelve Rules for Life.” I truly enjoyed the book and was particularly fascinated by chapter two that dealt with that subject. The bottom line was we all will have some chaos in our life, or we will not grow and will become stagnant. Reflecting on my professional life as a leader of several different companies, then my own, and now as a SCORE mentor, I thought how true that is.
Starting, running, and keeping a business alive, be it a for-profit business or a nonprofit organization, your company must grow and to grow, you, as leader must accept that there will be chaos as a part of your life. Your business world is not stable.
You have competitors, internal problems, new products being developed and government regulations with which to deal, just to mention a few of the challenges. My choice and many of the clients I’ve mentored have chosen to grow their organizations. So how do you do that?
The starting point for the business leader who wants a growth company is to set the goal, be totally committed to hitting that target and to develop a written growth plan. The growth rate that the Harvard Business Review suggests is between 10% and 25%, which is consistent with what others suggest. That’s consistent with the businesses for whom I have worked. As a SCORE mentor I have found clients that are growth oriented are OK with an annual target of 20% for both revenue and profit.
This plan can be summarized on a sheet of paper and would include:
- Hiring the right people and developing them into a team committed to your goals. If your target is to grow the company beyond your personal control, you would need to be comfortable delegating to the appropriate individuals. That means you become comfortable being out of the day-to-day operations and are over the operations, tweaking when necessary. This also means helping your staff grow professionally and making tough decisions when necessary.
- Your plan will include KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are measurable, reliable, time set for completion with staff hours allocated and funds budgeted. A Gantt chart for each KPI is a wonderful tool to follow and control progress or to shut down the program. KPIs are assigned and agreed to by a specific team member.
- A marketing plan is key. The plan should be for the next three years and spell out from where the growth is coming, i.e., more sales to current customers, market penetration, new marketing areas, new products, or product improvements, improved internal process, or price increase to name some areas on which to work. A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, or Threat) analysis both internally and of competitors sets a sound basis for planning.
- Finding a business coach who is willing to become engaged and work with you to achieve your goals. The coach should have a background that demonstrates their ability to do what you need. There are many organizations, SCORE for example, that are nonprofits and teamed with the Small Business Administration or state agencies to help small businesses. There are also consultants that work for small businesses. Your banker is a resource.
- Accepting there will be chaos and disruption to the normal business process. Team members will have to cooperate and avoid placing blame for mistakes. Blame sucks away energy. Growing your business involves taking some significant risks and cool heads are needed. Practice active listening which requires openness, making sure you all hear each other and bring issues to the table quickly.
- Growth most likely will require investment in equipment, inventory, accounts receivable or higher expenses. Prepare and monitor your cash flow statement often.
Small businesses are so critical to our economic strength. Very few of the business owners for whom I have worked or have met through SCORE have as their prime mission to become rich. To become financially strong certainly, but the business is there as a vehicle for them to live their dream and make a difference, support their communities, provide good jobs with fair pay and to have fun inside and outside the organization.
Growing your business to be strong and viable over a long period of time will be chaotic. Learn to live and grow, it’s a great journey. Let me share a quote that helped me, “It is not because things are difficult that we don’t dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” SCORE is here to help.
Score.org,
Richard.jordan@scorevolunteer.org
or 218-251-4413
As a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE – which offers free business mentoring and education — notes the organization has helped more than 11 million entrepreneurs through mentoring, workshops and educational resources since 1964. The nonprofit SCORE was previously known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives.
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