Is bigger and better your next step? Many of us are trying to make our business grow, but what does this mean?
Need more income?
One of the main reasons to make our businesses grow is our desire to earn more. That is fine, living a comfortable life is good! You want to take that trip you have been postponing. Or maybe you want to upgrade your business tools, your car, your office, etc. A new baby in the house? Moving out of that apartment and building your dream home? Paying off debt?
Once your business is working and you are doing ok, you want to do better. So bigger and better is maybe unavoidable. It is just the next step, but how do you take it without losing sense of what worked for you?
Get better before getting bigger.
I can tell you that before growing your services or the size of your workforce or equipments, you have to get better. Is there something in your process or services that could be done better? Maybe you’re not great at keeping all projects on track. Maybe your quality control is taking too much time. Whatever may be less than great in your business, I recommend you take a look at it before doing anything else. Trust me, if you get bigger before getting better at it, you will suffer. The size of your business magnifies the size of your problems. It will become harder to focus on those details as you grow.
Is there a point where big is too big?
Assuming I’m talking to you and you are not Bill Gates, you may be far from this point. But yes, there is always a point when big is too big. When the work in your hands goes beyond the hours that you were planning on devoting to it. It is too big. When the number of tasks go beyond the number of people who can perform them, it is too big. But this does not mean you have to stop growing. It just means you need to find what can close the gap. What will bring you closer to a happy, prosperous, productive, and efficient business.
The ideal size of your business.
Is there such a thing? I think so, even if it’s just the right size for now. Bigger and better have to go hand in hand. Better should take the lead in your focus, because it may bring you more value even before you decide to grow. The ideal size of your business is that which allows you to:
Pay attention to each customer.
Know who they are, what they need, and keep track of their progress. If you are losing track of them, or find yourself rushing through reports or conversations, you may want to get better at this, before growing more.
Pay attention to each supplier or coworker.
As with customers, make sure you are keeping track of them, their progress, and the time and attention you devote to them.
Do no harm.
If any part of your process is causing trouble anyone involved with your business, you may need to reconsider the size of your business. Again, this goes with bigger and better. If your business growth did not consider in the process the people, community, and resources that make it big, you need to go back. If your impact to society, the local economy, or natural resources si negative, do something about it. There is always a way to make any process better. If the impact is overworked people, then get creative with schedules, roles, or think about new skills or hiring. If the impact is that you outsourced to a cheap provider that is not being animal-friendly, then change your provider or work with them to develop better procedures. Collaboration is key! Getting bigger and better sometimes includes helping others become so too!
The world needs bigger and better businesses, but bigger not in terms of physical size or the income they bring. We need businesses that have bigger purpose, bigger vision, and personal development.
Are you ready to get bigger and better?
If you are ready, but don’t know where to start, reach out! I can help. Book a session and let’s talk about your vision.
