Have you ever wondered why some small businesses take off and develop quickly whereas others remain constant for years? Small business expansion demands clear planning and good leadership. Some new business owners acquire a certain amount of success, then sit back and do nothing to increase their company.
So, in this blog post, we have dissected and put forward nine aspects that prove to be obstacles in business growth:
Lack of Vision
Every business needs a vision statement, in writing, to help redirect their decision-making and planning. In case of a vague vision, no business can avoid waver. Lack of vision always proves to be detrimental to any company. How you plan, or how you devise a business strategy tells the corporate future for any organization.
For example, if a company is an activating molecular sieves supplier, that company needs to have a clear vision as to how to keep its stock running to survive and thrive.
Lack of Strategic Plan
Every business needs a clear strategy and must have a concrete strategic plan to chalk out steps to attaining the strategy. Every process related to strategic planning aids to keep the organization’s vision moving forward. Strategic plans have to be updated every 1-2 years as the environment, business market, and focus change.
No Written Goals
Not having accountability and SMART Goals is a perfect recipe to hamper the growth of an organization. Goals make a strategic plan happen and moving. Not having a written goal and a lack in management process regarding structured performance to attain those goals, is a disaster in wait for business failure.
No Hunger to Grow
Some businesses don’t desire to grow, which leads them to their corporate death. With growth comes pains. Also, business owners do not feel comfortable while making the essential changes for growth.
Hiring employees and dealing with HR-related issues is an instance of growing and never-ending pain. Other areas about growth pains are trusting non-trustworthy people to do things you can do yourself. Growth demands firm commitment from the organization’s top.
Not in line with Customer Demands
This is the point many businesses are stuck. The corporate world is rapidly changing at a brisk pace. Unless you understand client expectations and bring robust systems to take care of their customers, your competitors will do it for them.
Ensuring flawless customer service is crucial to long-term success. It is an undeniable fact that a consumer pays the office bills and workers’ salaries. So, you should find out what they need and provide it to them!
Failing to Reinvest In the Business
When a business starts, sometimes it becomes difficult to reinvest back into the business. Not doing so is an easy obstacle for business growth. Toeing with the ever-changing technology and updating production facilities are instances of areas that can consume your major resources but are crucial to satisfying client expectations. Updated and clean facilities always have a major impact on customer loyalty and consumer perceptions.
Failing to Delegate
Learning the art of delegating becomes increasingly crucial as a small business expands. Business owners must train staff, assign duties, and put their trust in others to execute them. Small business owners can swiftly become overwhelmed attempting to control every element of their operations, so learning to assign is crucial at this stage of growth.
Small yet successful businesses always learn the skill of delegating, growing, and letting go of less important things and they continue to drive their corporate vision.
Not Believing and Collecting Data
Another crucial component of small business growth in data collection, analysis, and decision-making. One of the most crucial components of running a small business is confronting “the brutal facts,” as outlined by Jim Collins in his book Good-to-Great. Understanding what the data says about the company can lead to improvements in procedure or process improvement.
All businesses must establish Critical Success Factors (CSFs) to track and monitor performance toward corporate goals.
No Clear Process for Problem Solving
Let’s accept it, every business faces varying problems. As soon as the problem gets resolved, another becomes ready to replace it. That is where management must intervene and clear the noise.
As small-scale businesses grow, issues are created that need immediate attention. For example, rapidly growing office space creates the issue of finding a new office. Finding new space brings the problem of layout planning related to new space.
Once the layout is finalized, planning of relocation needs to be done. Companies need structured processes for problem-solving and planning. Good leadership, together with seamless processes, can result in flawless problem-solving.
Lastly, small businesses that are thriving understand how to erase those obstacles that jeopardize growth and put energy and laser-focus into planning, strategy, and goal setting.
