Business Growing Pains (2012): 3 Tips to Survive and Thrive

Growing pains start early. You take that first step in life and fall on your face. They continue as you mature. You learn to ride a bike…directly into a mailbox; you have your first date that turns quickly into a last date; you join a company that grows 100% in one year…you get my drift. Unless you’re standing still, we have all experienced growing pains of one kind or another in our personal AND professional lives.

I am going to open my robe here and talk to you about our own experiences with growth here at Element Three. If you know us, you already know that we are REALLY good at what we do. Inbound marketing, brand, marketing strategy…we rock them all. The consequence (used in the positive here) of said awesomeness is that we rocketed through 2012 with 100% growth in sales and are now planning for another significant growth year in 2013.

Recently, I celebrated an anniversary with Element Three, wrapping up my first year with 10 new hires under my belt. Ten top quality new staff members identified, sourced, recruited, vetted, interviewed, hired and onboarded. No wonder I look forward to beer Friday with such relish. I won’t lie to you; organizational expansion at that rate is not easy. If anyone tells you otherwise then they are lying through their teeth.

I have experienced rapid business growth several times over the past two decades and I gained some valuable insights along the way. Here are my top three tips for surviving and thriving through growth.

1) Communicate

Do yourself and your staff a favor. Don’t keep them in the dark. Good news or bad, keep those around you informed and included as decisions are made. Invite participation from your staff as you make decisions – you may gather ideas you never thought of. In the absence of information, human beings automatically make assumptions based on the limited information they can find. Typically, this leads to lack of trust and confusion which is always more time consuming to manage than proactively talking to folks about what is happening. There is no reason for secrets around your growth strategy. Without the full support and backing of your team, change is difficult and growth is nearly impossible.

2) Keep on open mind

It is so easy to be myopic during peak growth periods because everyone is just trying to get things done, move forward, plan for the immediate future, keep pace, survive. It may seem easier to have a bunch of internal meetings with the management or leadership staff and make decisions based on what you collectively see through your lens. However, this can be very dangerous, particularly if you have strong personalities that consistently drive decisions to go a certain direction. Take a break, step back, look around and seek external input. Read a book, do some research, learn how others have dealt with similar challenges. You may learn something you would never have considered without looking outside of your inner circle. Don’t wear blinders when you are experiencing change – it will be your undoing.

3) Listen

This goes along with the first two points but still needs to stand on its own. When moving at the speed of light, the hardest this to do is to slow down or even STOP for a moment and listen to what others are saying. Ideas, concerns, encouragement, questions, complaints…they are all important to hear. This does not mean you need to react to everything you hear; you simply need to hear it and consider how what others in your organization have to say about the direction your business is headed. Many times the wisest words come from those on the front line doing the work. They have a vantage point that leadership teams may not. If someone in your organization takes the time to come to you with information, good or bad, you should at least listen.

While I realize this is not a panacea for all growing pains, it is a great place to start. If things go wrong, they are going to start from one or more of these items being missed. Communicate, keep an open mind and listen…good advice no matter what you are doing.