Tomorrow your business could get hit by the "metaphorical bus" ... some catastrophic change might happen, some market shift, some impact that will spell the beginning of the end.

It happens all the time.

Companies become complacent; they become too dependent upon one client, upon one market or on one product.

Clients change suppliers, competitors get aggressive, disruptors enter the marketplace, recessions happen and key employees choose to leave ... any of which can hurt a company.

For these reasons it is critical that companies continue to evolve and grow over time.

They need to find new clients, hopefully enter new markets and potentially add new products and services.  Through this evolution a company can grow and can protect itself from the "bus risk".

The bigger you get the less impact from one "hit".

The more diverse your client base the less risk from a change at a client.

The more diverse your services the less risk from an aggressive competitor or a market disruption.

Some realities of growth:

1.  Growth takes investment and patience.

2.  You will make mistakes along the way, and they will cost you.

3.  Growth takes change ... you need to change!  You cannot do the same things today that you did yesterday and expect change to happen.  Not only that, but your entire management team needs to understand the change expected of the ... and embrace that change.

"If you change nothing, nothing changes."  Tony Robbins.

4.  Geographical growth brings different challenges ... it is tougher to manage what you can't see every day.

5.  Adding clients needs compelling messages, a strong sales effort and typically involves unseating incumbent suppliers!

If you want to grow your company, consider this:

It takes some courage to invest the time and effort into something new, when you would be more sure of the return on that same investment in your known business.

It takes belief and passion because you have to champion the cause, sell the idea to your team at the outset and keep that belief and passion even when things don't go the way you would like them to go. 

It takes a commitment to change.  It means a willingness to change your work habits, to change your way of doing business, to change how you spend your time and even how you measure the business.  It takes a commitment to instill those same changes in your management team and to get buy in from the whole team.

It takes hard work!  You worked hard to start your business and this is no less onerous.  You will need to go outside your comfort zone, perhaps travel more, learn new services/products, build new relationships, trust new people and all the effort that takes.

"Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it!"  Thomas Jefferson

It costs money, time and effort … are you willing to do what it takes?