Have you heard the saying “you’re either growing or dying?”
For me, growth is in the eye of the beholder. What I mean by that is growth means different things to different people and larger is not necessarily better. The seduction of “bigger is better” exists because you can scale, get better pricing from vendors, and have a wider impact on your market.
However, as Basecamp founder Jason Fried explains in his article “The Zen Approach to Growth,” size may be important but it should be a by-product of meeting the mission of your company. Getting bigger means more personnel to manage, larger customer base to manage, and so on. Employees become a number vs. a name and family.
A business owner should think about why they want to grow and how it will impact the culture. Being intentional about your growth is important. Careful, methodical growth where the rate of growth is at least within the company’s affordable growth rate, which I often referred to as your “speed limit.” Every company has a speed limit, and going excessively fast has its consequences. Know your limit and why growth is important to you.
Here’s to knowing your speed limit and staying within it.
Mike