At predictable points in growing a business – defined by the number of staff in your organisation – you will go through significant transitions. Some companies disapparate at these points – rapidly jumping forward – while others simply disappear.

These phases have a significant impact on the role and energy of the founder, as they grow from being involved with every client … to developing a process-based business … to ultimately needing to trust the smarter people they’ve hired for specific roles. How well you manage these transitions will determine how fast you move through them – it’s not uncommon for small businesses to rapidly double in size, even after years of being stuck, because they finally accept that things have changed. One of my greatest success stories as a business coach was the company that went from $1 million in annual revenue to $1 million *per month* just a year later, as a result of following this advice.

In this episode, we also share the impact different phases have on your recruitment decisions. If you’ve ever had a loyal team member suddenly become a roadblock, or recruited an exceptionally experienced person only to find they were completely useless, chances are it wasn’t the person … it was just that their experience and talent was best suited to a phase different to where you were at the time.

I can’t stress enough that these phases and transition points are known and predictable. Why then do so many businesses in Australia still get surprised or stuck?

 

Originally authored by Jacob Aldridge.