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This post’s acronym is GROWTH, without which your business will stagnate.

G

Growth is necessary for everything to move forward, be it business or personal.  For your business growth there is a certain element of personal growth too.  We expand our personal knowledge when running a business, we learn to overcome personal blocks and issues to be able to move forward in areas we weren’t previously comfortable with.  Often when a business is stuck when you look into the problems the issues are of a personal nature to someone, be they a clash of values or beliefs and it is only when they have been removed or the person with the issues removed that movement occurs again.

R

Removal of obstacles is necessary for the growth of a business.  The obstacles vary from business to business and also from the individuals inside the business.  Has everyone in your business got a clear understanding of what is expected of them, do they have the necessary skills, or do they need to learn them?  Do they fully endorse your businesses core values?  Sometimes it is simply a case of external personal issue with a member of staff that can block progress temporarily, being aware of the obstacles means you can act fast to remove them.  Other times it can simply be a personality clash.  Whatever the cause, take the time to find out what the obstacles are and nip them in the bud before they become big problems.

O

Organisation of plans, down to the last detail is essential for growth.  There is an old quote that states: “Fail to plan, plan to fail” and that basically sums it up.  Without a proper plan of your business development in place you are simply floundering around and while you might reach some of your targets, you will certainly miss quite a few of them.  This can be completely avoided if you devise a route map of where you want your business to be in the future.  Do it for five years into the future, four years, three years, two years, one year, then break that first year into months and weeks with definite targets. Finally break down your weeks into days and always have at least the next two weeks plan finalised in advance.  This will require constant updating.

W

Wheel of business. Do you have one?  It’s similar to a wheel of life that a lot of coaches use to show where you feel you are currently in your life, except this is used to show where your skills level is in each segment of your business.  You simply draw a line across each segment at the number you think your skill level is at. I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t have a wobbly wheel as there is always some segment on it that could be developed further.  It is worth filling out your own wheel and using it for your business to see where your strengths and weaknesses are.  Here’s one I use with my clients , feel free to get a copy.

T

Training is an essential part of business growth.  It is rare that we come into business with all the business skills honed and ready to use.  There is a very good probability that you decided that what you had to offer had a market ready to receive that offer.  However you might not have had all the financial knowledge or administration skills to hand, perhaps you are great at fincances yet don’t know how to manage your social media campaign.  We are never quite proficient at all of the skills which is why we undertake further training to at least understand what it is we want in the person we hire to cover the skills we are not so good at.

H

Hiring the relevant people with the skills you lack will make a huge leap in your business growth.  I heard an award winning business owner state that she only ever hires people who have better skills than her as she wants to not only expand her business, she also wants to learn from those people too.  On the other hand I know of someone who won’t hire anyone better than him because he believes nobody can do his job as well as he can and he doesn’t see the benefit of paying the going price for the skills that he doesn’t have.  Needless to say his business is ticking over, however it isn’t growing and sometimes he struggles to maintain it where it is.

What areas of your business are wobbly on your business wheel and what steps are you going to take to make your wheel more balanced and grow your business?