For a business to be successful, the emphasis is often on moving forward, growing, learning, improving, expanding, diversifying and increasing. We strive for more customers, more income, more employees, more products and services and more profit, because that is a sign that we are doing well.
But the danger in chasing “more” is that you lose sight of some of the basic fundamentals, and one day you start losing customers and employees, quality deteriorates, and profits start decreasing. The attentive service you gave your small customer base falls by the wayside, you are so busy invoicing that you forget to collect money, the pace at which you are required to deliver leads to a decrease in the quality of the product or service you provide, and you enjoy your bottom line profits so much, that you stop investing in the business.
Organisations grow by pushing themselves out of the comfort zone, but then they drop balls because the systems and processes have not been put in place to sustain this growth. Failure is great. It forces you to go back to the drawing board and put the necessary systems and processes in place to avoid making the same mistakes.
Sometimes you need to go backwards to go forwards.
Ask yourself these questions…
- Does your brand need a facelift to reflect the growth and the vision of your business?
- Is it time to invest in new equipment, technology, communication, premises?
- When last did you revisit your vision, mission and values?
- Have you lost touch with your customers’ needs and service levels?
- Is there a new system you can develop to streamline some of your business processes that have become tedious, time consuming or onerous?
- At what point should you look at expanding your team, to free you up to work ON the business, rather than IN the business?
- How do you know you are actually offering value to your customers?
If you have experienced massive growth in a short space of time, if you find your growth is plateauing, or if you feel you are starting to get a bit stale, perhaps it is time to take a step backwards, before you can go forward.
As a business coach, I can help you redefine your end goals, identify the obstacles to overcome, put a plan in place to move forward with the proper systems and processes to sustain your growth potential. Call me today for a complimentary business coaching consultation.
Goooo South Africa! #proteafire
Regards,
Greg
