Having worked with countless businesses over the past decade, it is becoming clearer that there are specific pain points that business owners hit and often stay at. They are revenue turnover of $500K, $1.5M, $10M, $30M and $110M. Businesses can get stuck in a routine which becomes repetitive. This routine reminds me of Einstein’s definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. At the $1.5K revenue point I am seeing the Business Owner with a couple of staff who have been with them a long time. They are struggling to delegate work and believe that they should still be working with their employees. They have long term loyal clients but aren’t getting many new clients as the Business Owner is focussed on keeping their current clients happy and this affects their capacity to persue new clients. The business owner isn’t even sure how they would cope with more work if they got it. The business owner has tried working out a plan with their friends, their other business colleagues and may have tried mentoring. The business owner knows they aren’t as productive as they can be, that they need more efficient systems, that they need to manage some of their employees who are also friends and that the loss of EBITDA is now increasing due to poor performance and productivity. Their busyness is also impacting on their health, their sanity, their family and their life. They know that something is going to give, but they don’t know how to take it to the next level. They may also be thinking about succession planning and selling, however, know no one would buy the business as is.
The good news is that if you can get through the $1.5M pain point, the next significant painpoint is at $10M.
Einstein was right – don’t do the same thing. Contact us for a free Growth Score Report from the Advisory Board Centre which will help you to identify the next step to take.