Why most small companies remain that way, and what you can do about it. Perhaps your company has already achieved $1 million or more in annual sales. I say perhaps because it’s not an easy thing to do. In fact, according to the most recently-published census data (www.census.gov), only 5% of all employer firms in the US produce annual revenues of greater than $1M. And only 2% do more than $2.5M annually. The main reason for this is not the economy, or competition, or lack of opportunity. These are challenges that every business must overcome, regardless of size. No, the main reason businesses remain small lies at the very top of the organization. Or should I say, the center of the organization

Informative White Paper! For some specific advice on how to overcome common challenges to growth, download a free copy of Fast-Forward’s latest white paper, Forever Small. Click here to download

The Epicentral Owner Small companies often stay small because of the owner’s inability to let go and delegate. The owner is in the middle of everything, and remains so even as s/he hires additional employees. The organization chart for these companies looks like the chart at left. This kind of organization can never grow past the owner plus 7-8 employees, because no one person can effectively manage many more “direct reports”. This is the growth barrier that I see working with companies across the US. Many get “stuck” at the 7-8 employee size, never able to grow past it and often – because the owner is taxed to be responsible for so much – unable to sustain that size organization. They don’t grow. They shrink.

The 4 P’s of Business Growth

On the way to growing my former business to over $10 million in annual sales, with some 75 employees, I learned a lot about the challenges of business growth. There are many, of course, but I think they are nicely summarized by the 4 P’s:

People  •  Process  •  Productivity  •  Planning

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to read about the ways Fast-Forward helps businesses address the “4 P’s”…