Are YOU getting in the way of growing your business?

Many businesses fail to scale because founders become bottlenecks. Growth requires delegation, strong recruitment, strategic leadership, external support, and openness to change.

You came up with a good idea and quickly turned it into a fantastic new business. You worked hard to win new customers and soon grew your team. A few years pass, by now you’re firmly established and things are going pretty well. 

But as the business grows and you want to take the business to new heights, fresh challenges emerge. You’re determined and working harder than ever. But try as you might, your business just isn’t growing as quickly or as much as you want. You scratch your head and wonder why. The answer could be staring you in the face every morning when you’re brushing your teeth in front of the bathroom mirror. 

Business growth blocker? 

A common reason why many businesses fail to scale (ie achieve significant growth in a short time) is the founder’s ability to transition from start-up mode to scaleup mode. Over many years spent advising technology/innovation-led SMEs, I’ve seen it many times. 

Founders often make the classic mistake of micro-managing all the important stuff themselves, like plate spinners. The danger is they become growth- bottlenecks, because they believe they must be involved in every decision. To an extent, it’s understandable. They’ve put everything into their business, it’s their baby. But if their business is to grow significantly, they need to step back from the day to day activities. Then they can start strategising – working on the business, instead of just in it.  

Recruitment matters 

Success comes from recruiting the right people for key senior roles within your business anddeveloping staff so you can delegate responsibility. That can be difficult, but once you gain that freedom, you can focus on the future of your business, rather than constantly reacting to the present. Scaling leadership is just as important as scaling the business itself. 

I noticed early on in my career that really successful people delegated a lot of things, which enabled them to focus on the bigger picture and driving growth. Business owners understand the art of delegation, but find it challenging sometimes. You must recruit well, trust people, give them a vision and inspire them to achieve great things. 

Delegating responsibility 

There's a tech-led business in Dorset  that I worked with a few years ago that was at that point of needing to scale. The founder got a non-executive director on board , who told the founder she urgently needed to step back from certain responsibilities if the business was to scale.  

That sounds bold – and it was very hard – but the founder made herself CEO and the other founder became the CTO, and they employed someone to manage their customer support. As a consequence, the CEO was able to focus on securing investment, developing strategic partnerships, and the business was transformed. Turnover increased significantly and they now have investment and 15 employees. That wouldn’t have happened had all of the those changes not taken place. 

Bringing in new people, with new ideas, experience and contacts can be the key to unlocking significant business growth. It doesn’t always have to be a new director either, consultants can have a big influence that can enable growth. 

Supporting growth 

After supporting that tech business in Dorset, we used to have regular catch-ups every month. The founder described it as a therapy session, because she could talk to someone outside the business, me, and tell me things she couldn't really say to people within the business. Just talking through various issues and the problems she faced helped enormously, and many business founders value the mentoring side of what we do, as much as the consulting side.  

Consulting is very much identifying problems, pointing those problems out and providing solutions, helping businesses to reach the next stage of their journey. Many businesses stall because they don’t reach out for the right external support. Accessing finance and funding to sustain growth and maintain cash flow is another key challenge, one where changing leadership roles can also prove vital to attracting the right investors. 

Solution is evolution 

Founders should also remain open to being challenged, whether by another director, manager, employee or consultant. They may have once spotted a gap in the market and developed a neat solution, but they need to be able to adapt or evolve if they are to achieve significant, long-lasting growth.  

I’ve known a few businesses that have struggled with that, for which they’ve paid the price. Growing a business involves some risk and it isn’t a certainty. It requires careful strategic planning, effective processes, determination and the right balance between hard work and delegation. But when you get it right, it can bring huge rewards. 

• Tony Welch is a strategic business adviser and consultant who has helped many technology-led start-ups and established SMEs to grow. He is particularly experienced across aerospace, sustainable fuels and emerging technologies. Want to find out how Business West Consulting could help your business to grow? >>