Four Steps to Sustainable Growth in 2013

By Dr. Sarah Layton

Step One – Get Healthy

Many companies that try to grow are not ready to handle the increased business. When we talk about growth, we are talking about significant growth, not just incremental growth. To handle significant growth, an organization needs to be operationally fit. We get organizations operationally fit through our Value Enhancement Audit Diagnostic. This is an intense evaluation of an organization’s operations that delves into up to 15 areas and calculates up to 120 ratios. We look at the organization from a growth standpoint, which is very different than the way your auditors and other consultants look at the finances. We do not replace, but work with your other professionals such as attorneys, CPA’s and consultants. These ratios, combined with the results of in-depth quantitative interviews and expert analysis results in an evaluation that identifies where your organization is weak and what exactly it is costing you. It then makes recommendations to correct these weaknesses and shows what it will save you in revenue and earnings.

Step Two – Plan your chosen trajectory

What do you want to do? Do you want to improve the organization and stay the course? Do you want to grow, find new markets, get financing for new projects, acquire a new company or sell this company? We can help you make the decision and then help you plan the path to success in that trajectory. We may utilize our network of business brokers, venture capitalists, and other experts to help us along the way. Good plans are written and each objective and/or goal includes a series of actions needed to accomplish the objective or goal with the responsible person named and a start and completion date.

Step Three – Implement your plan

Make certain everyone knows what their focus should be every day. If your employees are not working to move the organization forward in the successful completion of its goals, it is going backward. There are regular meetings and everyone is held accountable through a reporting system that highlights projects that are not on budget and on time

Step Four – Watch trends and ratios

Stay abreast of trends, social, business and legal, your industry so that you can anticipate and take action on major and minor impacts on your business