Can You Handle the Chaos of Business Growth?

Do you want to grow your business?

If your answer is yes, here’s some bad news: growth comes with its fair share of pain, often showing up as chaos that you might not be used to seeing in your business.

Let me explain.

If you’re running a business that’s treading water, you might feel uneasy but still comfortable. Not getting new customers makes you a little anxious, but taking care of your existing clients gives you some peace of mind.

Of course, the upside of leading a “stable” business is that you can run it on autopilot. It’s business as usual, your team settles into a nice routine, and maybe you’ve even scaled back your hours—more time for golf, or maybe a cross-country Harley trip with your easy rider pals.

But beneath the surface, danger is lurking… and that’s what’s making you uneasy.

Why You Can’t Ignore Growth

Customers don’t stick around forever. They may get wooed by your competitors, face a disruption, or go through an ownership change and leave you. You have to regularly bring in new customers to replace the inevitable churn. And, of course, you need new business if you want to grow.

Unfortunately, if you’re not growing, you’re dying. With the economy growing and inflation rising, you need to increase your top line by 5-7% each year just to stay in the same spot.

If your industry is booming, you may need to grow 10-15% or more each year just to keep pace with your competitors.

It’s not just customers. Even if you treat your employees well, some will leave—especially if your business isn’t growing. A-players are usually the first to go. They’re ambitious and can’t wait around for you to make moves.

Growth Isn’t Optional

Here’s the reality: if you want to stay in business, growth is not optional. Expanding your business will help you, but it will also create some chaos. Growth means empowering your team, hiring new employees, and dealing with inevitable mistakes and stress… So much for leisurely hours and fun trips.

Be prepared for some chaos.

Get Comfortable with the Uncomfortable

Like it or not, there is no growth in your comfort zone. Growth pushes you to be more productive, forces you to figure out how to do more with less, and slams your back against the wall. It’ll frustrate your customers and teach you some hard-earned humility. In other words: entrepreneurship.

Still up for the challenge of growth?

Then embrace the chaos in your entrepreneurial life. Grow your skin a little thicker. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Your reward? New customers, A-players joining your team, and a business adventure that will keep you on your toes.

How to Navigate the Chaos

The best way to overcome the chaos of business growth is to coach your people through it. We’ve developed a tool to run powerful Mentor Meetings™, which you can download here for free.

Feel free to disagree in the comments below, or send me a personal note if you’d like to chat more about this, to steve@stevepreda.com.