Better Doesn’t Always Mean Bigger

There is a version of business growth we hear about constantly.

More customers. More staff. Bigger premises. Higher turnover. More locations. More activity.

Sometimes that is exactly the right ambition.

But sometimes getting bigger simply creates a larger, more complicated version of the same problems.

More sales can mean more pressure.

More staff can mean more management.

More services can mean a less clear offer.

A fuller diary can mean less time to improve the business.

And a higher turnover figure does not necessarily mean the owner is earning more, enjoying the work or building something sustainable.

Growth should improve the business

For me, growth is not automatically about expansion.

It might mean:

• increasing profit without increasing turnover;

• working with fewer, better-fit clients;

• improving margins;

• creating systems that save time;

• reducing unnecessary services;

• making the business less dependent on its owner;

• building a smaller but stronger team;

• doing more of the work that is both enjoyable and profitable.
  

The question is not simply:

How do we make this business bigger?

It is:

What would make this business work better?

Those are very different conversations.

More is not always progress

Business owners can become so focused on generating more work that they do not stop to examine whether the work is actually helping the business move forward.

A busy business can still be:

• underpriced;

• inefficient;

• overdependent on one person;

• attracting the wrong customers;

• delivering services that are no longer profitable;

• running on systems that were designed for a much earlier stage.

Being busy can disguise these problems for a surprisingly long time.

The diary is full, the emails keep coming and money is moving through the account, so everything appears to be working.

But underneath that activity, the owner may be exhausted and the profit may be disappointing.

Build the business you actually want

Before deciding what growth should look like, it helps to ask:

• What kind of work do we want more of?

• Which clients are the best fit?

• Where are we making money?

• Where are we losing time?

• What depends too heavily on one person?

• What could be simplified?

• What would make the business more valuable and easier to run?

The answers may point towards expansion.

They may also point towards reducing services, improving prices, changing systems or deliberately remaining small.

There is no prize for building the biggest possible business if it becomes a business you no longer enjoy running.

Better matters more than bigger

I have worked across businesses, projects and organisations for more than 25 years, and the same lesson appears repeatedly:

Growth works best when it is deliberate.

It should support the purpose of the business, the people delivering the work and the life the owner is trying to build.

Sometimes the right next step is ambitious expansion.

Sometimes it is removing complexity and strengthening what is already there.

Both are growth.

The important thing is knowing which one your business actually needs.

Is your business growing in the right direction?

My In Your Corner support helps business owners and leaders get clear about what needs to change, strengthen the way the business works and turn decisions into action.

In Your Corner