Why is it that dysfunction so often increases the more our business grows? The start or purchase of a new business is often a joyous time full of hope and promise. We continue to believe the lie that is entrenched in the ‘employed’ that we can now enjoy the freedom that being our own boss will bring us instead of pandering to superiors.

If we are lucky the ‘honeymoon’ goes on for months or maybe years and seems very ‘real’. It may seem like we don’t really have to work that hard on the details such as marketing, book keeping or systems as things are running ‘just fine’! We think that simply continuing to do what the previous owner showed us or what our professional advisor’s tell us is quite sufficient.

So things get even better - the market is ripe, business is booming and customers are buying! We need to expand operations so we hire more staff, lease new premises or buy new hardware that will help us do the work that we do faster and in greater quantities than before.

But we start to strike ‘issues’ with increasing frequency. The landlord hikes the rent, our new employee starts coming late for work, some customers are paying invoices well after the due date, our product has a persistent malfunction etc. Things are starting to go wrong just when our business is showing so much promise.

At first the symptoms are subtle but grow increasingly disturbing and substantial over time. The issues take on a life of there own with a building inertia! You are now experiencing the growth/dysfunction paradox which states that the greater the growth the greater the problems!

We conveniently blame our people, customers or market place. However, the reality is that "85% of organizational problems can be attributed to processes with the remaining 15% falling into the people category" (Dan Madison, Process Mapping, Process Improvement, and Process Management). If your business has no systems and processes in place dysfunction will only increase with growth.

So the choices we have to address this paradox are to down-size or systematize. By down-sizing we can maintain personal control of every aspect (or as much as possible), of our business which will consequently severely limit growth, kill us or create a business that replaces our life as we know it. The problem is that markets change and as demand for our product or service wains so does our income yet working hours will often increase.

A far better solution is to ‘nail down’ our systems and processes carefully so that we can be confident that key functions of our business are reliable and dependable. We do the internal work to grow our ‘business consciousness’ so that our core processes are clear and understood. We then continually try, tweak, improve and test the latest and greatest techniques, tactics and information relevant to today’s marketplace. We keep what works and throw-out what doesn’t.

We must be acutely aware that the successful business owner is a ’surgeon’. We must keep the heart pumping while constantly repairing, improving and re-building the many systems that ensure the survival and growth of our businesses over the long term.

Thank you very much for reading and please leave a comment.

Jason

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