January 22, 2020

 

There's an old saying that's true: You grow, or you die. Entrepreneurs grow their companies because they need to. If they stay stagnant, they'll die for sure. the problem is no one ever tells you at what rate you need to grow.

 

So often entrepreneurs grow as much as they possibly can. They take on every opportunity and push themselves and their staff, while not thinking about their rate of growth. They don't really consider they can "grow too much" and take unnecessary risks. It ends up killing them and their team. When it blows up, they think they're a failure because it didn't work out.

 

Know Your Why

Every entrepreneur experiences the ups and downs and highs and lows. To be successful, their growth needs to be aligned with the company's goals. They need to know WHY they want to grow their company. They need to grow with purpose, and this growth needs to be aligned with their life goals.

 

It's much more efficient to get from point A to point B by growing in a somewhat straight line, as evidenced by the green line in the graphic below. This is growth with purpose and is a skill that requires strategic and emotional intelligence, maturity and experience.

 

Source: Randy Gerber

This is a hypothetical example for illustration purposes only.

 

Growth with purpose also takes discipline. It's not a race to the finish. When you grow too fast, you end growing like the orange squiggly line - you'll probably get there eventually, but it will take a lot longer, be way harder, and have tremendously more risk. Whether you get there in five years or seven years doesn't matter, as long as you get to the goal! You have a much better shot at getting there financially by having steadier growth than super volatility along the way.

 

Identify the "right" rate of growth and be very deliberate and strategic about your growth. It's far healthier, safer and usually a better return.

 

How To Grow With Purpose