For the first time in the last few years, I recently, had a business owner tell me that they did not want to grow their business. Whilst I do understand that not everyone has the motivation to grow, before I accept that they do not actually want to grow, I try to find out what is making them say that.
Often, it is because the problems in the business have become high and so overwhelming, that the thought of more growth is mind blowing. It is often these problems that prevent growth.
The Wonder Stuff sang about blowing up our problems to the size of a cow – it can happen so quickly and when problems mount up, they can seem insurmountable.
But the best way to eat an elephant is one mouth full at a time and it is the same with these problems!
Why grow?
Put simply, growth is crucial to the long-term survival of a business. It makes it easier to acquire assets, attract new talent and fund investments. It also drives business performance and profit.
All these things help the business to stay viable and survive (see our blog about hard decisions.)
Growth also gives you, as the businessowner, an opportunity to free yourself from the business and stop working in the business.
So why do many avoid growth?
The fact is that business growing pains are real and these manifest themselves in barriers to growth.
To help you overcome them, we have identified 12 barriers that prevent people from growing their business:
- Finding and keeping customers
- The people problem
- The cash problem
- Your relationship with your Accountant
- Lack of understanding of finances
- Being disorganised
- No work-life balance
- Business over reliant on you
- Feeling isolated
- No idea where you are going – lack of vision
- Not being efficient
- Constant change
In our guide, overcoming the barriers to growth, we explore these areas and give you guidance on how to overcome them.
