Could you grow yourself out of business? Avoiding the hazards of accelerated growth.

Growing a company is one of the most studied and strategized topics in the business world. Whether by diversifying products, identifying new markets or innovating, steady and healthy growth is obtainable for most businesses. However, growth can be a double-edged sword. It represents progress and can result in rewards and new opportunities. But when growth is too rapid, it can put a sledgehammer through your goals and leave dire impacts. Companies that haven’t carefully planned for growth can experience financial, legal, staffing, inventory, quality and supplier problems and literally grow themselves right out of business. For business growth to be successful, it must have the necessary resources to support it now and into the future. So how do you avoid the rapid growth problem that plagues so many ambitious business owners? Take the time to devise an action plan that details specifically how you’ll grow without jeopardizing your company’s finances and future. Incorporating these key steps can lead the way to healthy growth:

Develop a strategic growth plan.
This documented plan identifies growth priorities specific to your company. It’s a disciplined plan that considers all possible strategies that will help you achieve your growth objectives. Executing a strategic growth plan requires funding, staffing, and other resources to be allocated to your plan. Effective planning helps all stakeholders understand the resources and capital needed to execute, which then enables the team to size and time the plan for success.

Manage financials.
Many CEOs and owners are the “idea” people. They are exceptional at driving the big picture and disruptive thinking, but lack time, energy, or knowledge to keep an eye on key financial indicators that would alert them to issues that need attention in order for the plan to progress successfully. Many businesses may not require a full-time CFO, but could greatly benefit from the experience of a strategic financial consultant who can develop a financial foundation to effectively manage growth and spot warning signs before they become problematic.

Monitor performance.
Financial data and key performance indicators (KPI’s) provide a business with insights about how well it is performing. Identifying and defining the KPI’s that are most important for your business and developing effective solutions to monitor them can make a difference between success and failure of your growth strategy.

Create a budget and forecast.
Develop a budget for your business so you can set targets for revenue, expenditures, and income. Make sure that cash for necessary inventory, equipment or other asset investments is addressed. As the year progresses, maintain a rolling forecast that enables you to incorporate changes in current circumstances of future expectations that were not known at the time the budget was prepared. By comparing actual results to the budget, businesses can measure performance against the growth plan.

Conduct a SWOT analysis.
By examining your internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats, a business can fill gaps and capitalize on core strengths. To achieve growth goals, make sure you are clear about the factors that impact your business success. A SWOT analysis helps your business to scale, so that operations, technology, customer service, and human resources grow at an adequate pace to meet the growing demands of the business. It also focuses attention on the outside factors that are most likely to negatively impact your growth plan. This allows your team to develop contingency plans that can help keep your business growth on track in spite of negative outside influences.

Fund your growth.
Business owners have options when it comes to funding their growth. If the business model and infrastructure are scalable, steady growth is possible by continually reinvesting the net cash flow back into the business. It is common for companies to seek outside financing to help fund growth initiatives and keep cash flowing in case of cash shortages, loss of a major client or the seasonality of the business. Various types of credit like term loans, construction loans, commercial mortgages, equipment leases and SBA loans are a few examples of business loans that can be used to help fund growth.

What you can do right now.
Business growth is exciting, but it’s essential to strategically plan ahead for growth. B2B CFO® is passionate about helping business owners achieve their growth goals by removing obstacles that can derail success. Through best practices, financial management, banking relationships, strategic planning and uncovering risks, we can guide you by developing a clear and compelling plan to set the right pace for your business.