Mastering business growth

October 1, 2009
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growthTrying to grow your business?  In his seminal work, The E-Myth*, Michael Gerber observes that growth requires you to play multiple roles at once – the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician.   But, it’s hard to be strong in all three areas at the same time without losing focus on the big picture or the attention to detail.

The technician is usually the one who gets you into business in the first place – you take the stuff you love and turn it into what you do.  But, the business also requires an entrepreneur…a visionary who will dream and scheme to create new things and a manager who will create order. 

In larger businesses, these roles are done by 3 separate people and there is a natural tension that exists between them that pushes the business forward.  But businesses that are small in size and young in age often do not have the luxury of 3 different people to fill these roles.  This means that you tend to gravitate to your favourite role, which can lead to stagnation,  or active inertia (lots of activity without change), which can lead to burnout.

What’s the solution to all of this?  Gerber says that if you are going to make your business your life, then make sure it’s the one you want.  Here is what you need to do:

  • Understand your goals and motivations:  what specifically do you want to achieve and what would it mean to achieve it? 
  • Define your organisational strategy:  what will this organisation look like when it grows?
  • Define your management strategy:  By what metrics will I measure the organisation?  (cash flow, sales pipeline, etc)
  • Define your people strategy:  How will I select and motivate them?
  • Define your market strategy:  Who are your customers and why will they choose to do business with you over the alternatives?
  • Define your systems strategy:  How will the work get done?  Don’t manage the business in your head.  Document how things get done so that others can step into roles as you grow.  Pretend it is a business that will be franchised, even if it isn’t.  That will make what you do repeatable and predictable.

Sound hard?  Well it is and it isn’t.  The hardest part is finding the time and head space to work on the business instead of in the business.  And if you want to reach your goals faster, try using some outside assistance.  Read about Two Heads Business Advisory Board services here.  

*Gerber, M. E., (1995).  The E-Myth Revisited:  why most small business don’t work and what to do about it.  Harper Collins, New York, NY. 

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