The Growth Conundrum

There’s a lot of noise and chatter surrounding the critical subject matter of business growth. Thousands of books have been written about it and there are a multitude of strategies, ideas, and methodologies on ‘how to grow your business,’ some of it’s good, some not so great, and a lot of it is rubbish based on fallacious theories that originate with academics; who with respect has no first-hand experience when it comes to building and growing a business.

The Holy Grail of Entrepreneurship

It is understandable why there is so much noise and chatter when it comes to growing business if you consider that every business starts with a vision and a purpose, and for this purpose and vision to be realized it is required that the business grows into something significant. In a sense the growing of business is really the holy grail of entrepreneurship, it’s what all entrepreneurs pursue but it is very hard to get, especially sustainable business growth is a very difficult undertaking to achieve.

The 5 Elements of Sustainable Business Growth

For you to scale your business for sustainable growth and build it into a significant business will require 5 elements to be present and at work within your business. These 5 elements are all necessary should you wish for your business to be built into something significant and become the business that you envisaged right from the start.

Building and Growing a Business is a Team Sport

The first element that you require is the right people doing the right thing at the right time. Building and growing a business is a team sport. It is not something that one should undertake to do on their own, even if you are in a partnership or part of a team of entrepreneurs in the business, sooner or later you will hit the invisible barrier in your business (also known as the ceiling of complexity) which represents the limitation of your resources, which is usually the time required for you to work on the business instead of in it.

Business Systems 101

You need people to support you with running/operating your business that you may be able to have the time to focus on the strategic aspects required to grow it. But the people on their own is not enough, they need to be empowered and enabled by systems and processes within your business for them to be able to do the right thing at the right time. I am not referring here to technology but to business systems 101; a sequence of activities that is designed to produce an end result on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without which it is impossible to build your business into something significant. 

Foundation of Consistent Cashflow

After business systems, the next element required is a consistent cashflow for your business, a bankable income or even incomes provide your business with a foundation from which you can plan and forecast into the future. It takes resources to realize opportunities and if you have consistent cashflow you are able to commit to acquiring or allocating the necessary resources to make your business grow.

Standing Heads and Shoulders above the Rest 

The fourth element that is critical for growing your business sustainably is that of differentiation or strategic positioning. You need to be positioned in the hearts and minds of your clients as being unique, even better a strategic resource that they cannot afford to go without. If your clients perceive you as someone who solves a specific problem they have in a unique way, it will result in them being loyal to you, and in you being able to charge a premium for your product or service. If you can achieve this it will ultimately lead to you standing head and shoulders above the rest of your competition.

Time to Make Things Happen

The fifth and final element you require to build and grow your business into something significant is that of time. If your business is systemized and has the right people doing the right thing at the right time it will also mean that you as the entrepreneur will no longer be sucked into the day-to-day operations of the business. Most entrepreneurs spend more than 80% of their time working IN the business as opposed to working ON the business. You need time to grow the business because identifying opportunities and making them happen is the one area that an entrepreneur cannot afford to outsource.

Asset of Value

All of these elements described above are also the characteristics of a business that has been built into an Asset of Value. Everything we do at Aurik is focused on building entrepreneurial businesses into Assets of Value. The reason for this is obvious, a business that has been built into an Asset of Value has all the elements a business requires to grow sustainably and become a significant business. The other advantage for your business to be built into an Asset of Value is that it is funding fit, meaning that you can secure the growth funding you need when you need it, and a business that is an Asset of Value can also be sold for a premium should you wish to do so. If you would like to learn more about this and how we go about it, you can either contact me directly on 082 777 4966 /[email protected] or visit our website https://www.aurik.co.za/