Four reporters asked the same question in one day last week: what makes a small business grow? They were looking for a strategy. My answer is less exciting. I do the books, so I see a business from the inside, and growth almost never starts with a growth plan.
You are ready to grow when the business you have is under control
Most owners are ready to grow only after they have everything buttoned down and under control. In the books that looks plain. The budget is steady. Spending is in line. The business meets its marks, month after month.
Here is how I say it to owners. You don’t ever want to get a bigger house if your little house is messy. It will just bring you a messier, bigger house.
Growth does not clean anything up. It takes what you already have and makes more of it.
What owners chase that turns out to be a waste
The things owners chase for growth that turn out to be a waste are generally about ego or vanity. A second shop down the street. A bigger building. More trucks when the trucks they have are not at full capacity.
Every one of those looks like growth from the street. None of them is growth if the first shop is not running at capacity yet.
What the owners who grow well do differently
The owners who grow well generally have all of their systems in place, and they are firing on all cylinders. The repeatable process comes first. The growth comes after it.
That order matters. When the work runs the same way every time, adding a truck or a person gives you more of what already works. When it does not, you are adding a truck to the mess.
Where to start
So before the second location, look at the first one. Is the budget steady? Is spending in line? Are you meeting your marks? Are your customers waiting longer than they should because your days are full?
If the answer is yes, grow. When the answer is no, that is the work in front of you, and it comes before the lease.
If your business doubled tomorrow, what would break first?
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