Growth can have its drawbacks. Often a period of growth means that the poor owner is just as hassled and tired but at a higher level of activity, so it may feel like the same effort for more risk – more plates spinning, so more reward but an awful feeling that at some point one will come crashing down. It’s a reason some people are wary of growing their businesses. Owner overload is very demoralising.
It’s not a difficult thing to fix though. We can borrow a concept from marketing. Marketing is or should be about getting the right customers, not just getting any customers. This means that you have to know what customers you want, and to do that you have to decide what you are about – your mission and values. Communicating that internally means that you know that all your colleagues are clear and produce a consistent message to one another and also externally to customers and suppliers.
This gives you a framework for growth, as this message doesn’t change if the business gets bigger.
All you have to do is construct your mission and values statement. It’s not that hard. Start with an elevator pitch, and expand on that. Use this structure, because it gives a clear reason for “why you” at the end. The key elements are in capitals in this example – ours.
Hixsons are accountants and business advisors whose PURPOSE is to ensure that accounts, tax and advice is on time and helpful WHICH MEANS THAT Hixsons help align business owners personal and business objectives so that they make more money and keep it.
Notice – it’s never about what you do; it’s all about why you do it.
You can expand on that, like we have done in our newsletter Who we are. Internally we’ve written 2 pages on our DNA, just so that everyone is clear. It’s all about Clarity and Consistency, internally and externally.
Be very clear what sort of customers you want – or don’t want. Your marketing and sales methods should all follow these messages, only targeting what you want. This may limit growth but ensures you only get the type of growth that’s good for you.
This framework is robust enough to cope with quite a lot of growth – if you employ more colleagues to help, they will absorb your DNA from everyone in the business, not just you. This clarity and consistency helps everyone keep the plates spinning – you’ve got some help now.