To grow your company successfully you must plan! Planning is the main reason why some minority businesses have been able to grow successfully while others have not.
To understand this, we start by pointing out some common myths or misconceptions about what causes high growth; myths such as how much risk CEO’s are willing to take or how much access to capital they have.
The Gazelle Index surveys found that owners of high-growth and low growth companies work just as hard, have the same level of education, and are moderate risk takers primarily.
However, where they differ is that CEOs of high-growth companies, in comparison to those of low-growth companies, plan! That is, CEO’s of high growth companies do the following:
- They create and execute business growth plans,
- They set much higher annual growth targets,
- They pay much attention to improving their company’s management efficiency,
- They worry less about their competitors than their competitors worry about them, and
- They more likely to be operated by younger entrepreneurs.
In short, CEO’s of high-growth and low-growth companies are similar in the following ways:
- Both groups of CEOs are moderate risk takers, not high risk takers
- They work equally hard
- They are committed to innovation
- They have the same access to capital
- They have similar levels of education
- They are equally optimistic about the future
- They spend the same time growing their business vs. managing it.
What makes the difference when it came to achieving high-growth is planning for it.
Planning is a factor that every CEO can control. To grow one must set a high growth target, develop and implement a plan to reach it, constantly improve your company’s operational efficiency, and stop worrying about your competitors but instead work on achieving a distinctive products or service.