Growth is good.  Growth is needed for companies to survive.  Growth is necessary.  Growth is success.

Not all the time.

Growth without foundation is a recipe for disaster.  Recently I have been exposed to a few terrific companies who are experiencing incredible growth.  Their sales and therefore organization are increasing exponentially.  But unfortunately with this growth, these companies find themselves struggling.

Companies have increased their sales in amazing numbers.  But they are experiencing issues with the surge of product needed to maintain these sales.  Their current systems did not plan for the increase in inventory, potential quality issues, returns, and distribution needed.  Other companies have experienced another issue with growth, communication.  When these companies were mom and pop size, there was no reason to have a procedures manual or processes to track execution by employees.  But now with a growing host of individuals involved with the business, they are finding consistency difficult to maintain.  They are experiencing issues with individuals making decisions beyond their position, individuals unable to act because they do not understand the tools available to them, and dissatisfied customers due to lack of consistent results.

What these companies are experiencing is growth without a foundation.  A foundation is the roadmap and structure for a company to grow.  It takes into account what is needed today and what will be needed tomorrow.  It outlines systems and procedures which can be followed as the organization grows.  It anticipates the additional requirements of a growing business, when there are still only two employees.

Without a foundation, when the company grows it is behind the eight ball.  The dollars are rolling in but the system is not designed to handle the additional inventory and shipments.  There is lack of communication tools to keep a growing number of people in lockstep.  As a small company, a heads up over the cubicle wall is all that is needed, but when there are multiple employees potentially in multiple locations, a more sophisticated and systematic process is needed.

As you develop your strategic plan for your business, be sure to include a solid foundation for future growth.  Your strategic plan should include systems for sales, marketing, product development and quality control, employee training and retention, and customer management.  In the beginning, the execution of these different systems can be simple and inexpensive, but be sure your strategic plan outlines the steps to take as your business grows.  Without this pre-planning, you may find yourself like the businesses above.  Growing but not being able to sustain the growth.

Building the Best,

Melissa Heisler, Business Coach

As a life coach, I am use to noticing insights and coincidences for my clients.  In the off-hours, I can not help but do the same for myself.  One of the triggers I watch for is if something appears to me three times, there is a message to be discovered.  I have gotten so adept at it, that usually I feel a significance at two times, which leads me to this month’s story.

My husband and I actually had a full weekend day together which was wonderful.  Before going to another incredible production at Chicago Shakespeare Rep, we bummed around Chicago.  At one of the stores we stopped at, I picked up a book on retiring early.  I can’t remember the name of the book, but as I was flipping through it this listing of achievements popped out at me.  Here is my paraphrase:

Achievements by Age

At 5 years old, tying one’s own shoes.

At 10 years old, having friends.

At 16 years old, driving a car.

At 20 years old, having sex.

At 30 years old, having money.

At 40 years old, having money.

At 50 years old, having sex.

At 60 years old, driving a car.

At 70 years old, having friends.

At 80 years old, tying one’s own shoes.

This concept is funny and sad and insightful all at the same time.  Then later that day Shakespeare shared one of his monologues on the ages of man in his play As You Like It:

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the canon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

When we are in the midst of living, we tend not to see ourselves as if we are in a phase.  But as those around one age, it is easy to see yet hard to accept that our loved ones are moving into another phase of life.  Being my own life coach, here are a few takeaways I was given from these two descriptions of the ages of life.

Don’t take yourself so seriously.  What is important to you right now may be completely meaningless in a few years.

Be empathetic and compassionate towards others and yourself.  Don’t honk and be frustrated with the old man in the Buick in front of you.  He is moving at the only pace he is able.   And at the pace you will be moving in a few years.

Keep everything in context.  Achievements for a 10 year old will not be the same as one expects for a 20 year old, and vice versa.  Celebrate the accomplishments you and others have at each age.

Age gracefully.  Don’t fight time.  Everything in this world cycles, and so do we.  Enjoy and accept the journey you are on and what your capabilities are at each age.

Enjoy every moment.  There is no better place to be than right here, right now.

Enjoy the ride!

Best,

Melissa Heisler, Life Coach