| EDITOR’S NOTE
Is It Really All About Growth? I
Josh Field
’ve frequently referenced the quote, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” However, the concept of growth may be misconstrued to mean increases in gross revenue from year to year – a performance hurdle the majority of companies would fail to achieve given recent economic times. So does that mean your company is ‘dying’ if the revenue line on your P&L doesn’t show a positive in the variance column versus a year ago? Not necessarily. Like humans, company growth may continue internally long after the external physical characteristics appear to cease expanding. This internal growth is critical as companies with weak infrastructures will crumble under the pressure caused by external growth opportunities. As they say, “It’s not the opportunities you said ‘No’ to that you will regret in the future but the [wrong] ones you said ‘Yes’ to.” Managers and business owners must continually focus internally to strengthen their company’s core – its processes, personnel, finances and product offerings – in order to improve the value delivered to their customers. In this belt-tightening economy it’s especially prudent to revisit the inner structure to prepare for the next wave of growth. This is actually a healthier form of business growth (especially for small businesses with limited resources) than rapid and continuous expansion. In the latter scenario, you are faced with stresses to your internal infrastructure that often reveal weaknesses which may prove challenging to overcome. One theory suggests personnel, for example, will rise to their level of incompetence, i.e. managers will promote or assign more work to an individual until they can no longer do it properly. So use this time productively to reassess how you currently provide value to your customers, how you can add more value to those relationships and how your organization will be prepared to take on future opportunities. Do this correctly and you’re growing, despite what your P&L might say.
“The difference between a successful person and others
Favorite Quotes From This Issue: “Poor is a
is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will”
Vince Lombardi [ p. 63 ]
state of mind; broke is a temporary condition.”
Jeff Piersall [ p. 72 ]
“A society that has not learned how to
save will waste money borrowing from those who have.”
Keith Gee [ p. 79 ]
“The biggest misconception is
[women] business owners think that once they get certified, the contracts will automatically fall in their lap.”
Jennifer Dickerson [ p. 82 ]
10]OCTOBER2010
spacecoastbusiness.com
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