9 things that hinder business growth

Have you ever wondered why some small businesses take off and grow very quickly and others stay the same for years and years?

Small business growth requires strategy and strong leadership. Some new business owners achieve a certain level of success, sit back and don’t do what it takes to grow the business.

9 Things That Hinder Small Business Growth

1. Vision Lake

All businesses need a written vision statement to help direct their planning and decision making. Without a clear vision, a business can flounder without specific direction. Lack of vision is detrimental to any organization. How can you plan or have a business strategy without knowing where you want to go?

2. No Strategic Plan

Every organization needs a strategy and must have a strategic plan to map out the steps to achieve the strategy. The strategic planning process helps keep an organization’s vision fresh and moving. Strategic plans need to be updated every few years as the market, environment, and approach change.

3. No written goals

Not having SMART goals and being held accountable for achieving those goals is a sure way to stunt an organization’s growth. Goals are what make a strategic plan happen. Not writing down goals and having a structured performance management process in place to achieve those goals is an invitation to business failure.

4. No desire to grow

Believe it or not, some companies don’t have the desire to grow. With growth comes growing pains, and sometimes business owners don’t feel comfortable making the changes necessary for growth. Hiring the first employees and handling human resource management issues is an example of growing pain. Other areas of growing pains are delegating and trusting others to do things the way you would. Growth requires a commitment from the top of the organization.

5. Not in tune with customer needs

This is where many organizations get stuck. The world is changing at such a rapid rate that unless an organization understands customer expectations and puts systems in place to serve their customers, competitors will do it for them. Ensuring good customer service is critical to long-term success. Fact is, customers pay bills and employee wages, so you better find out what they want and give it to them!

6. Not reinvesting in the business

When a business is just starting out, it is sometimes difficult to reinvest in the business, but not doing so can affect the growth of the business. Keeping up with changing technology and upgrading facilities are examples of areas that can consume considerable resources but are important to meeting customer expectations. Clean and up-to-date facilities can have an impact on customer perceptions and loyalty.

7. Do not delegate

As a small business grows, it becomes increasingly important to learn the art of delegating. It is important for business owners to develop employees, delegate and trust others to complete tasks. Small business owners can quickly become overwhelmed trying to manage all aspects of the business, and learning how to let others help is critical at this stage of growth. Successful small businesses have learned the skill of building, delegating, and letting go of minor things in order to continue to drive the organizational vision.

8. Do not collect and believe data

Collecting, analyzing, and making decisions based on data is another critical aspect of small business growth. Facing “the brutal facts” (as described in Good-to-Great by Jim Collins) is one of the most important aspects of running a small business. Understanding what the data is saying about the business can drive changes in practice or improve processes. All organizations should have established critical success factors to help monitor and track performance toward goals.

9. Not having a clear problem resolution process

The reality is that all businesses have problems and as soon as one problem is solved, another takes its place. That’s what management does: it solves problems. As small businesses grow, they create problems that need to be solved. For example, outgrowing office space creates the problem of finding new office space. Finding a new office space creates the problem of planning the layout of the new space. Once the design of the new space is done, the office relocation must be planned. Organizations need to have structured processes for planning and problem solving. Having good leadership, coupled with good processes, can result in successful problem solving.

Lastly, thriving small businesses understand how to eliminate those things that impede growth and put a lot of focus and energy into strategy, planning, and goal setting.