Talk about an oxymoron! Slow down to grow my company fast? Are you kidding me? I realize this does seem like an off-putting idea, but in reality, it’s how the most successful companies grow. It’s not necessarily about becoming the largest, by the way, because not every CEO wants to build the largest company. Instead, they want to be the best in their class. 

Of course, the majority of business owners work toward building the biggest and best organization they can. This is particularly true in the early days, but if rapid growth begins to pull apart their organization they soon realize they won’t sustain their success. 

So, if you’re currently leading a business that seems to be growing out of control and controlling you, the better option is to slow down the progress to allow the necessary time to put into place a new strategy. The key to the strategy begins with understanding how to better match your company’s resources to a more steady and sure pace. 

Here are three ways you can rethink your business to ensure its continuing and manageable growth:

  1. Don’t be afraid to assess your organization’s performance abilities. Over time, all organization’s capabilities, capacities, and expertise change when there is high growth. Activities such as organizational 360’s and related executive reviews are put off because “We’re too busy meeting our clients’ needs!” Leaders eventually find out they don’t have the right people in the right positions and need to make many changes that upset the organization. How could this be avoided, you ask. Schedule an organizational assessment once a year or once every two years, depending on your increasing growth speed. Check out our SmartPlan360™ Platform that can assess in 20 minutes what used to take us 100 hours.
  2. Examine your value proposition from a strategist’s perspective. At what scale point does it no longer make profitable sense to continue offering your products and services to the growing number of customers you’re attracting and serving? For many organizations, having fewer clients with deeper relationships will develop a sense of exclusivity and high value among them. Which do you prefer? A one million dollar company that makes $900,000 or a ten million dollar company that makes one million dollars? I’d choose the former every time. Far less work and proportionately far more profit.
  3. Know the four foundations of growth. This is our Growth Model. They are Alignment, Integration, Awareness and Relevance. And aligning your core organizational strategy always comes first! Then comes integrating your core strategy throughout your entire organization, not just at the top. Integration is followed by market awareness. If your marketplace doesn’t know you well, you will not grow. And lastly, and certainly not least, your organization needs to be relevant in value to your customers on a daily basis. 

For years I have recommended these four drivers to growth. I wrote a book about them, Rethink, that discusses how to develop a successful core organizational structure. Implementing a successful strategy often requires slowing down to take the time to refocus and rethink your new strategy. Time can be on your side if you move at the right speed.