By Nick Hopkins, CPA, CFP®
Partner, Director of Tax Services
Why is it important to grow your business? As a CEO or other leader in an organization, it’s vital to always focus on growing the operation not only to generate more revenue, but because of the image of success it projects to the marketplace.
“If you’re not growing, you’re dying,” the old saying goes, and there is definitely some truth to that.
Growth indicates vibrancy. It means a business is functioning well — and that’s the sort of business pro-active executives will seek out and want to engage with. The most talented employees want to work where they will have the most opportunities for professional growth and advancement.
As an executive, ask yourself how committed you really are to fostering growth. Many give lip service to growth but aren’t willing to take the steps to make it happen.
In other words, do you walk the talk?
Your best chance for growing the size and reach of your company is by growing the talents, resources and capabilities of your team. This could be opening up another line of service. Maybe you need to put infrastructure in place, such as an upgraded facility or regimented procedures. Or continuing education so your employees stay on the leading edge of your industry.
Ask your customers what services or products they could use that you’re not currently providing. Then assess what steps you will need to take to bring that to fruition.
Growth can be intimidating because it necessarily involves risk. Most entrepreneurs are by nature risk-takers. But sometimes they worry about new ventures because they don’t want to endanger the status quo of the business they’ve already built.
Often when a company is in its early stages, the business owner is handling operations, sales, marketing, etc. all by themselves. In order for significant growth to happen, at some point it will become necessary to bring in department managers with different skillsets and delegate those roles.
It’s about being willing to react, to change and build upon what you’ve done in the past to reach that next level.
While you’re bringing in new talent, don’t neglect to expand your own skills. A superior executive should always be trying new things, and encouraging others to do so. Innovation is critical to your long term success.
If yours is a family-owned business, growth will often lie in the hands of the next generation. That’s why it’s important to get them engaged as early as possible, and to give them as diverse a set of experiences in the workplace as possible. They may start off as a teenager sweeping floors and cleaning bathrooms. Then steadily expand their responsibilities as they become more capable and confident.
There is such a thing as good growth and bad growth. Turning a medium-sized, highly profitable enterprise into a larger one that loses money hand over fist is certainly not a step up! So when you think about growth, don’t focus on the size or scope you want to attain, but on generating new revenue through improved or expanded services and products.
Sometimes your short-term profitability will have to take a hit while you emphasize long-term growth. Think of it not as an operating expense but an investment in a future filled with growth and opportunity.
If you commit yourself to being a forward-thinking executive who is always on the lookout for ways to make your business bigger and better, you will be perceived as a thought leader within your industry and then the reality of success will follow.
Need advice on how to grow your business? Please call Nick Hopkins at (317) 608-6695 or email [email protected].