5 Elements of Business Growth:
Harvard Business School experts say 70% of businesses fight over 30% of the profit pie. The secret is to be one of the 30% who walk away with the 70% the others don’t see. True business growth takes vision and clarity. Often we just see the parts that are physical and miss the big ideas that are the real foundations of greatness and growth. With these five elements you can look across your business and see if you’ve got what it takes to grow.

Element ONE: Big Ideas

Ideas are the rocket fuel of business. No big idea, no lift off. New ideas break away. Old ideas become a downward spiral of price loss and increasing competition. All high growth businesses have a big idea as their foundation. Big ideas are the seeds of growth.

Element TWO: Value

Okay, your ideas are big, but can you make it work, make it affordable and make it dependable? Gizmos that fall apart, neat appliances that are too expensive for the market and services that don’t deliver faithfully, end up on the heap. People want it to work, to be affordable and to be dependable. Businesses that pass the value test have the true essence for growth.

Element THREE: Brand

You have two seconds, according to experts, to make a positive impression. In this world of nutso amounts of information, you had better be good. Your communication needs to be as good as your big ideas. Growing businesses need logos, communications, web sites, design and a great story. Build the visual brand; this is the face that people will see if your idea is big and growing. Tell your story and tell it well. Your idea is in the hands of the words you speak. Growing businesses are the ones who get their brand out front.

Element FOUR: Community

Businesses who see people as community and not commodity thrive. Businesses that inspire their communities rather than trying to control people grow. This means you need to connect. You need to listen. You need to engage. In the web 2.0 world the playing field is rapidly changing. Your customers and employees can be fans. Businesses around you can be your allies. Find where these people live and talk—increasingly this is in the Internet zone. Find them, listen to them and inspire them, then your business will grow.

Element FIVE: Culture

If you think you have arrived you actually have your first foot in the grave. Businesses that grow have a culture that lives in the four areas above all of the time. Lather, rinse and repeat—good advice for businesses that want constant growth. This happens when everyone sees their role in growth and is empowered to participate. Growth is a culture. It needs to be in every part of your business.