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or “getting rich quick” mentalities need to be left to those lucky individuals who have those
experiences.
Getting your business to show a stable profit-and-loss statement is plenty of work for any
new owner. In fact, your P&L will be your guide through the years and is an excellent snap-
shot of the health of the business each month.
Growing Your Business to New Heights
At first glance the term “growing” translates to “more sales,” which means “more money.”
Unfortunately it also means “more overhead.” When you grow you might need more space
(rent), more employees (payroll), and more tools (capital equipment). You need to decide
whether to push forward and grow or keep your business in your comfort zone.
Just as growing your business is costly and stressful, it has its good points. A growing busi-
ness means job security. When you land a large client or your marketing plan really kicks
in and starts bringing in more customers each month, you find yourself with a good prob-
lem to have. I consider too much business a problem, but it's a good problem. Remember
that you're in the service business and your reputation is your most valuable asset. Since
you're the best in the business, more customers will come your way. In fact, at some point
you will reap the benefit and enjoy a word-of-mouth increase in customers.
The key to growing is being able to maintain your reputation, turnaround time, and business
model while adding expense and sales. It sounds like an easy task but trust me it can
quickly turn from a “good problem” to “business killer.”
Is Growth the Key?
Have you ever heard the phrase “growing too fast can put you out of business”? In my
mind, I thought that growth was the key to success. It is in a way, and most
business owners embrace growth and look forward to the challenge of beating sales
goals, adding inventory, and adding employees.
The real issue with growth is that it is expensive. In most cases, when you grow it
means that you need to spend more money. When you spend more money to grow, the
expense typically comes before you reap the rewards. so month after month, I grew my
business. Year after year, I grew my business. I was always thrilled that I was beating
my previous month's sales numbers and making new records. What I was missing out
on was consistent sales numbers. my growth was expensive, and even though I was
increasing my top line, my bottom line was not increasing as I had hoped. Find your sweet
spot. make a determination about how big you want to get, get
there, and steady yourself. As your business slows from a growth mode to more of a
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