Good, Sustainable Growth Needs the Right Framework

Every business does not understand how to grow wisely. Some owners still believe in a fairy godparent who may magically appear, point to a mysterious box on a screen and tell them to click here to launch instant remarkable growth. If this were the way it could happen, there would be few struggling businesses in the free enterprise system.

Instead, growth should be deliberate, with methodical planning and a well-though-out design. It not only should guarantee growth, but it should also ensure the proper framework is in place to manage that growth. The missing framework, unfortunately, is where many growth plans go wrong.

First, budding companies should decide what they are trying to achieve before they make any kind of move to change existing operations. If, for example, the goal is to improve service or product delivery by 60 percent, and they know they need to be faster, they will need to focus change efforts on delivery systems. Ordering, purchasing, processing and tracking systems cannot be antiquated or full of bugs. Customer satisfaction and the company reputation will depend on this. Whichever new delivery system the company chooses will also need to be able to handle the increased rate of processing. Completing orders faster will make the necessary room for new orders and new customers. The company’s reputation will be in jeopardy if it cannot deliver.

The key to good growth is making sure there is a solid, measurable plan in place. Many entrepreneurs know they cannot execute this plan alone. They call on experienced consultants to help them with the design and, if they are savvy, they keep the consultants around to evaluate how well the plan is working.