Growing pains. Although you may not be able to label them as such, you know the symptoms only too well. They sneak up around the same time you’re cutting the cake and popping the champagne on the two-year anniversary of opening your business.
What really makes them frustrating is that growing pains are the culprit that causes your business to stall or plateau. What makes them even more challenging is that they’re not always easy to see — even though they exist in plain sight.
Who would have ever thought that one’s expertise as an accountant, web designer, attorney, marketing consultant, business coach, or grant writer would blind your view and block you from spotting the growing pains. But, it happens, and here’s why. With more sales, more clients, and more demands on your time, growing pains signal the need for a new and different set of skills.
Some of the more common growing pains that small businesses suffer include any or all of the following (in no particular order):
- Inability to successfully manage your workload
- Distended inbox
- Frustrating delays in getting back to or responding to clients
- Struggling to keep commitments and timelines
- Potential client leads falling through the crack or getting lost in the shuffle
- Difficulty keeping up with the demands of the business
- Days spent reacting and/or putting out fires
- Working ferociously and frantically from morning to night
- Giving up the activities you love most or that hold great value so you can get caught up on work
- Failing to keep promises you make to yourself (i.e., this week is going to be different)
- Inability to find time for activities that grow your business, such as planning, sales, and/or marketing
- Feeling powerless to change things
Are any of these familiar? If you say, “Check! Check! And Check!” here’s the good news…
Growing pains, not to be confused with a struggling business plagued by scant cash and clients, are actually a good sign. Growing pains show that your business is growing! It signals a time of transition.
Get excited! Then get some help…..
