Are You Actually Built To Grow?

by
Steve August
September 21, 2020
Scaling
,
5 Rules for Rocket Ships

Recently I've been talking with a LOT of people about breaking through their growth barriers. One of the things that I was reminded of during these conversations is that there are often two main barriers to growth:

1. Not having systematic outbound and inbound Customer Flywheels that drive sales
2. Not having  an organization that is built to grow

It's #2 that has been a recurring theme this past week, even amongst the clients I have been working with.

The conversation often goes like this...

"We are growing OK now, but I want the company to grow faster, like 2-3x in the next ~2-3 years."

"That's an amazing goal, I believe you can totally do that."

"The problem is resources. We don't have the money to hire sales people to get us the sales. And even if we figured out sales and were booming, we would fall over because we couldn't handle the work. So it feels like we are stuck."

I hear this especially with service companies that use a sell/do business development model.

Here's the thing. For these Founders, their companies aren't actually built to grow at that rate.

In order to be the company that grows 2-3x in the next ~2-3 years, you have to start behaving like the company that has already grown 2-3x.

So you're probably thinking, wait, how do you actually do that? It starts first with mentality.

You have stop thinking like your current organization.

Your current thinking got you to your current rate of growth, but it isn't likely to get you that 2-3x. So you need to break down what 2-3x really means: 2-3x leads, 2-3x sales conversations, 2-3x delivery of offerings.

Then really commit to making that happen.

That commitment looks like examining every part of your operation through a growth lens, then figuring out how to deploy your resources for maximum return. That means looking at how everything is done, even time-honored cherished ways of working and putting them under the microscope.

This often means rethinking how everyone - especially you - is spending their time. This means building more scalable ways of doing things: systems and process that are repeatable and scalable. That goes for both service delivery and growing revenue.

One of the things that I see holding companies back, is that they've accumulated a lot of offerings and different customer types. Getting to the next level of growth often means figuring which customers and offerings can actually get you the growth you want, and going all in.

I've written about the 5 Rules for Rocket Ships. There's a reason Ruthless Simplicity is #1. The enemy of rapid growth is complexity. If you want to be the company that grows 2-3x, you are going to have to up your commitment to Ruthless Simplicity. It means hard decisions, but the reward is the growth you want.

Like many things in life, it's behaviors that determine outcomes. Start behaving like the company that has already grown 2-3X and you'll find that you've built the company that actually does it.

Until next time,

Steve

SteveAugustCoaching
Helping Founders Build Rocket Ships

PS Ready toTake Your Growth To The Next Level? Want to be built to grow. Let's talk. Schedule a growth conversation here.

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