- Over the years, I have tried to answer this one question: Are small businesses that achieve sustained growth different from those that do not grow? As a senior consultant for Inc. magazine, I talk to thousands of business owners every year. I have come to know that there are no Silver Bullets or 17-point checklists, which will lead to guaranteed growth. However, there are seven specific areas in which development companies focus their efforts.
1. Strong sense of purpose. Most leaders of companies that have achieved growth find that it is more than a promise to raise financial rewards to fulfill their aspirations and ambitions. They find a higher calling than simply a search for "more money".
2. Outstanding market intelligence. It is the organization's ability to first identify, then adapt to fundamental changes in the market. Many times, small-business owners become very myopic, seeing only a limited view of the markets in which they compete. Developing leaders see the big picture.
3. Effective Development Plan. It is the best predictor of whether a business will grow. To be effective, a plan of escalation does not need to be formalized or complicated. However, it should be well written and regularly updated.
4. Customer-driven processes. These days, every company I talk to is customer-driven, when there are very few actually. Take a look at all business processes from the customer's point of view. Are they helping to make it easier for the company, or to deliver on the promise of faster, cheaper and better delivery for the customer?
5. Power of technology. Successful leaders did not excuse the boom and boom of technology cycles by stating that we live in the information age. If a company is in business, it is in the technology business.
6. The best and brightest people. Development leaders believe that they are only as good as the people with whom they work. The ability to hire, train and retain the best and the brightest is often the difference between success and failure.
7. To see the future. Some organizations regularly take time to consider the future. Developing leaders learn how to monitor and explain the macro powers of change that affect the world in the way they live.
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