Video: Stages of Growth Overview

Growth Problems Index

Use this online tool to identify your
organization’s growth problems and
measure their severity.

Interactive Growth Stages Tool

Use this interactive tool to see video
overviews and detailed information
for each stage.

Growth Stage Assessment

Use this online tool to determine your
company’s current stage of growth.

The Growth Problems Index

Are you headed for continued success or serious trouble?

If your business is successful, it will grow itself into problems. It’s nearly impossible to scale a business without experiencing obstacles along the way. Problems inevitably begin to pile up as a company grows and becomes more complex.

Why?

When a company is small, it’s relatively simple to manage because it has fewer “moving parts”: fewer customers, employees, and products, and a simple structure. Then the company grows and it’s no longer the same company: there are more people, customers, products, suppliers, management layers, locations, competition, and risks to manage—there’s more EVERYTHING—all of which creates complexity.

Eventually things start to break down. Chaos reigns. You’re constantly moving from one crisis to the next. Management is stretched too thin. Some people lack the skills to keep pace with growing responsibilities. Poor communication and coordination leads to mistakes, inefficiencies, and a lack of focus. Quality slips and customers start to complain. Competitive pressure intensifies. Management loses control. Costs rise. And the number and difficulty of business decisions dramatically increase.

And these are just a few of the potential issues!

We have identified twelve of the most common problems businesses face as they grow and scale. These growing problems are not only barriers to continued growth, but also warning signs that changes are needed in the way the business is operated.

Every growing company eventually runs into some of these all-too-common obstacles. How you handle them can make the difference between success and a high-speed crash.

As with any warning sign, you have to know what to look for. Use this diagnostic tool as the first step in identifying which growing problems your company has and understanding their severity. To identify which problems may be holding your company back, find your Growth Problems Index here.