Landscape Management, October 2010
BUSINESS PLANNER 2011 ALL ABOUT GROWTH A recent study of The growth imperative ILLUSTRATION BY ISTOCK INTERNATIONAL INC more than 3000 business owners and managers found growth was their No Creating healthy profi table and sustainable businesses BY PHIL HARWOOD 1 priority This study was conducted by Pro Motion Consulting in the fourth quarter of 2009 Not surprisingly their other top priorities were closely related to growth becoming more strategic improving sales processes fi ne tuning marketing messages etc This focus on growth is not a new phenomenon but it is more of an imperative for businesses that endured recent periods of slow or negative growth Businesses that are not growing often become obsolete and fi nd it diffi cult to recover They lose their best people They stop investing in new technology and systems They become inwardly focused They lose their way This is a recipe for disaster So you want to grow This is easy to say but what specifi cally does that mean In what market segments will you grow your business What initiatives are you taking to drive sales What marketing support will your sales efforts have What will these initiatives cost Are these costs in your budget Do you have a budget In my experience many businesses want to grow but they struggle with developing and executing a concrete growth plan If statistics hold true only a few of those who participated in the Pro Motion Consulting study will achieve their growth objectives for 2010 Here we discuss why growth remains elusive for many businesses and what they can do about it LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET OCTOBER 2010 76 3 Key ingredients of growth Growth involves moving your business in a certain direction toward something and away from something else It implies the existence of a goal or outcome related to this something in the future This something is often called your vision Growth that moves you closer to your vision is good and growth that moves you away from your vision is bad Yes there is good growth and bad growth You may or may not have a vision for your company but I would venture to guess that most business owners desire to create a business that is healthy profi table and sustainable Lets take a closer look at each of these areas Successful businesses are healthy Just as individuals are relatively healthy or unhealthy so are business organizations
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