I am a business growth mentor so it is my job to ensure my clients know how to find their ambitious growth vision and implement it. Sometimes people think they do not want to grow. There are reasons for this and it is around the fear of being overwhelmed and being unable to deliver a bigger service or product offering. I offer you this thought; without continual growth your business will not be sustainable. This is true for your life as well. Looking forward to what you can do, what you want to change, what excites you, and how you might create something new is a great way to keep your mind active, your soul filled, and your business solvent.

Creating growth has three stages. Let me walk through these with you.

1. Want

You have to want it! Growth requires change and that is really difficult for all of us on some level and at some times. Wanting to change is easier if you have a desire around the outcome. If you want the outcome more than you do not want the discomfort of the change then you can accomplish the growth.

Let’s say you want to double your business income. The desire to double your income will not be enough emotional pull to really motivate you during times when you really need to push through uncomfortable tasks, but your desire will. What if your reason for doubling your income is that if you do not you will have to close your business. Yikes! Now you have a real desire – the continued existence of your business because you love what you do. That will do it – now you have your own ‘Big Why’ for motivation.

So, for instance, if the growth of your business required you to call all your past clients, something you had never done before, you may be thinking of other ways to get around that work. If you think to yourself, “If I get 10 more clients I will be able to meet my goals to double my business” you will be focusing on your desire. You will be more likely to make the calls and get through them so that you will reach that new level in your business.

2. Vision

You must have a clear vision as to what you will need to implement and sustain your ‘want’. This is a little like creating a goal statement and adding colour, smells, location, people, and dates, etc. The clearer your vision is the easier it will be to create a plan to make it real.

If in our example above you want to double your income then start by thinking about what a business that makes 10x (Ten Times) as much as you do would look like.

You read that right – to double your income you need to look at a much bigger business.

How many people would they need? How many clients would you have to serve? How many products would you have to sell? Where would you be located? Who would oversee operations, marketing, sales, finances, etc? What is your part in the business? How much money will you actually make (do the math)? How much money will you be spending (again, do that math)?

When you envision something much larger it is easier to pick out the smaller pieces and make it happen. If you try to stretch a small business into something bigger than it can sustain you will struggle and stress.

3. Plan

Create the plan to build the bigger business and then stop at double your current size if you want. Knowing what it will take to coordinate and develop a larger business is so valuable to your business growth mindset. You will be able to handle more challenges and see more opportunities. You don’t ever have to run that 10x business but you do have to know that path to get there so that the beginning of the path is crystal clear all the way to the 2x business.

Start at the end and work backwards. What did you need to do to have a 10x business? Look at these key areas and their details…

• Operations
  • Management
  • Job descriptions
  • Training
  • Policies and procedures
  • Laws and regulations
  • Positions
  • Responsibility
  • Location
  • Client contact
  • Customer support
  • Partners
  • Suppliers
• Marketing
  • Management
  • Campaigns
  • Printing
  • Online contact software applications
  • Target Market and sales location
  • Product / service positioning
• Sales
  • Management
  • Team
  • Quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals
• Finance
  • Management
  • Funding
  • Credit

  Billing

• Tools, inventory, and other capital expenses required
  • Customer relationship management (CRM) software
  • Financial software
  • Real estate
  • Product / service pricing
  • Office equipment and furniture

Thinking big lets you take in all the possibilities and then narrow it down to the things that have to get done right now.

Next step is to look are your endpoint for the 2x growth.

• What is the # of clients you have to serve or the amount of product you have to sell to make that growth number? How many hours would it take you? Is it more than you have in a day? If so, you will need to hire.
• Is it more money than you have to put out? If so then you have to get financing.
• Does it require a new website, video, a mailing list? If so then you have some things to learn, buy, or manage.

Remember if you are not growing your business you are going out of business. Just ask Blockbuster.