When is the right time to grow?
We want to grow our businesses, right? Of course we do, nobody’s going around saying, “what I really want is to fail my way into an abyss of irrecoverable debt.” If you’re happy with simply maintaining, then read no further; enjoy cruising your business through its day-to-day oceans, and bring me back some fish! Otherwise, read on.
Let’s get cosy with a few truths about growth, and since my wife is about to have a baby we will draw our parallels from baby-having. Let’s also use bullet points, because businesspeople like bullet points.
· Fear comes first
· Get the right people around you
· Growth is a process
· Growth requires investment
· People want to help
· Transition is the time to be adaptable
Got it? Now I'm going to not talk about it for a minute, and instead will explain my personal experience with business growth. Feel free to jump to the bullet points, though, especially the ones you find most pertinent for where your business is at.
At first, we ONLY celebrated birthdays
Everyone knows how to sing ‘Happy Birthday.’ What's the song for “You're the first kid in our family to graduate uni?” And how do you make sure it's one everybody knows??
Our business mentor and business owner friends were all advising us, for months, to expand into special events. We refused. We just didn't feel ready. And anyway, how could we possibly market ourselves for every individual life event that somebody might want to celebrate?
Actually, it wasn't that hard.
It started with Fathers Day. We wanted to celebrate fathers and so we adapted our product to suit the occasion, editing a well-known song and writing in an easy singalong part for the audience. We loved it. So did they.
We've marketed some celebrations which totally flopped, and then created celebration packages on the fly when customers have approached us for their friend who just bought their first home, or wanted to celebrate their child's graduation (yes, we figured something out for that one), wedding anniversaries, and more.
We've learned a lot from the experiences. Below is more or less a blueprint of the steps we take for introducing change in our business. We still do birthdays, of course, and now we also do so much more. We celebrate life moments for your special people, to show them how special they are.
Fear comes first
Which comes first, the family or the fear of starting one? For most, it’s the fear.
I’ve heard so many times of people waiting for ‘the right time to start.’ What is this mystical ‘right time?’ Its definition often includes money, sometimes family proximity, other times people are waiting for a work promotion or a whole host of other possibilities.
Since the definition of ‘the right time’ is so subjective, I suggest that the right time is whenever you start. This is true whether you’re about to start a family, chase a degree, or expand your business. Fear of beginning a thing is nearly always worse than confronting the obstacles which you will actually face.
Is there an area of your business you’d like to develop? Make a decision, choose a direction, and get started! Yes, there will be obstacles. You won’t get past them until you encounter them.
Get the right people around you
When you’re pregnant you need a midwife, antenatal classes, a support crew of friends and family, and much more. Similarly, a business needs marketing experts, mentors, a support crew of business owners who’ve grown their own businesses, and much more.
We don't ask parenting and birth advice from people with no experience or expertise, right? Don’t ask business advice from people who’ve never started a business; they may only tell you all the ways it wouldn’t work!
Find people who get you, who can see what you’re trying to build, and be ready for them to have a perspective you weren’t expecting.
Growth is a process
Nine months flies by quickly and yet each day takes forever. I’m so excited to meet my daughter, and every day she’s still not here. Babies grow slow …and that’s a good thing! Look at how much develops out of a single embryo!
Business growth is the same: beginning with a single idea, it grows into some form of product, we design systems for its manufacture and delivery method, and soon it takes on a life of its own.
Be patient in getting your product to market. What’s the rush? The market will still be there when you’re ready to launch.
Growth requires investment – …though not as much as you might think, or not initially.
Babies need a lot, but not all at once. I eventually discovered my little family investment can start small.
Right after birth, infant needs do not include an instantly available $30,000 college fund. They need clothes, a place to sleep, nappies & wipes, and a car seat (unless you’re birthing at home; otherwise, the hospital / birthing centre won’t let you take baby home.) That’s basically it.
Business investments can be quite similar. Many people have spent large, only to discover they got ahead of their actual needs and then received an underwhelming return ...if they received a return at all!
Take your time, do the research, ask advice, and in the end remember: investment can start small, and you can do what you feel is right for your business.
People want to help
We’ve gotten so many items gifted to us from family, friends, even family of friends. It’s been amazing.
Likewise in business we’ve found many business owners are excited about our business and they want us to succeed. They’ve helped us make connections, given us their time and advice, and even thrown some work our way.
Get out there and start connecting with people! Who knows where you’ll end up?
Transition is the time to be adaptable
Birth will bring us a placenta. I only wanted the baby but apparently the placenta comes free of charge and I don’t get to opt out. How does this apply to your business, you ask?
Creating something new in your business may mean you create other things during the development stages, vital at the time but later on you may feel it’s time to get rid of them altogether. That's fine!
Streamline your product delivery as best you can, and remember that cutting off outdated systems is a good thing. Consider it part of the process.
To conclude
Thought I couldn’t draw that last parallel, didn’t ya? Hah! Believe me, I could go on. To conclude, though, think on this: the growth process is conception, time, and delivery. You don’t have to deliver on an idea the day after you’ve thought of it. The decision to grow is the scariest part. Get a vision for what you’re building, and then two things happen. First, you won’t care how much work it involves – it will even excite you because you’re looking forward to the final product! Second, you’ll go from “I Don’t Know What To Do” to “Wow, there’s a lot to do!” So get dreaming.
#therighttimetogrow #growingyourbusiness #howtogrowbusiness #expandingyourbusiness