Why Your Small Business May Never Grow big and What to do About it

Many small businesses of today started small, are still small and will remain so, possibly forever. This is not because they don’t have the potential to grow and pull in mind-bending figures while serving a large pool of people especially in this digital age, but they get a lot of things wrong.

 I will lay open some of these things in this article and hopefully, it will get you started properly or help you to rethink and rejig what you already have in your hands.

Thinking small

The problem of Start small, grow slowly and think small. They start small and grow slowly I really understand, appreciate and support. But the thinking part leaves me confused any day.

It is very much okay for your business to start small. It is also okay for you to organically grow, learn the ropes, make your mistakes and improve things in your early days, but thinking small is a business crime.

Engage with an average entrepreneur and watch his actions (not his words) and you will see that this is a small man with small thinking going everywhere small.

Nobody has said that your small business should make you small-minded.  But this is what we see around.

This shouldn’t be.  Think big. Though a cub, you should still think and behave like one who will become the lion that will become the king of your industry someday.

Owner mentality

I and my business are one mentality.  This one is a killer of killers. It kills dreams. It kills talents. It kills accountability. It kills actions and eventually kills the business.

Like I always say, a business is a legally protected system, processes and structures that help deliver value to a large number of people at a profit with or without the involvement of the owner.

Those who don’t go with this definition end up building something that will never grow bigger than them. Such people fear losing control and sense of ownership in the event that the business grows bigger so they never let it.

If you ever have a dream of building something great, start by thinking of your business as a productive asset that should work with or without you.

This line of thought will help you get smarter people in and give them the free hand to help you build a better and bigger business.

It will also help you to plough back cash into the business to help it grow in structure, function and process.

This is the way of the big business and you too should embrace it.

I can do it alone

The problem of not needing help.  Those who will never grow never need or seek help even when they need it. They believe that they are all-knowing and must figure everything out by themselves.

This limited way of thinking keep such owners and their businesses small forever.

If you want to be big, learn to seek help and do so often and on time too.

Trying to figure everything out on your own is a sign of weakness contrary to what so many people might believe.

Here is how I know this to be true…

There is no big business owner that I have met or read about that never makes mention of how he sought help and even has a long list of people who have helped in their times of trouble.

Dear business owner, if you don’t start today to learn how to connect to helpers and actually get them to buy into you and help you, you and your business will grow old but never big and profitable.

Sales

The problem of not being able to sell.  I can say this often…. Don’t try to be the CEO of your company, be the Chief selling officer instead.

Selling is one core skill that every business owner must cherish and possess and hone on daily.

Your business can’t grow if you don’t sell. So if you have been running away from mastering this invaluable skill, just know that you are setting up a small business for life.

Agreed, it is a skill that many of us are not endowed with naturally. But it is a skill that can be learned too. Just the way you learn to walk and talk, so can you learn how to convince people to vote for your value with their wallets.

No ambition.

If you don’t have what drives you, you will not have the drive to drive anything. This is an open truth that should never be ignored.

My ambition in my own business is to reach at least 100 million people with my solution at a fee.  This thought alone keeps me awake and makes me very miserable when I find myself doing things that seem not to be taking me to that direction.

Your ambition doesn’t have to be so huge. It just has to be something meaningful and believable by you. It will serve as a guiding light on your path so that you don’t waste time sweating the small stuff and missing out on mileage.

In case you don’t have an ambition for your life and obviously, for your business, grab a sheet of paper right now and write one down in the language and style you will understand.

That is your only saving grace and granter of speed to your course.

Do it now! Do it now!! Do it now!!!

The problem of it just being a hustle

I’m sure you have heard it all over the place. Some even take it as a title such as “side hustle queen”.

But hey, I’m yet to see a side hustle that is pulling in impressive figures while helping you make an impact and have a life worth mentioning.

See, from day one, see your business as a business not side a hustle. If you say side business, I might take, but not a side hustle.

Apart from the fact that the name confuses everyone including you, it also makes you not to be serious and focus on what you have in front of you.

The problem of it being all about you.  Your business and ideas are not about you if you are thinking of building something great and impressive.

The founder is usually the last stakeholder of his idea. You must learn how to have healthy self-esteem and let your idea fly and bring value to others.

• Employees are important stakeholders
• Investors are important stakeholders
• Customers are important stakeholders
• Community is an important stakeholder
• Government is an important stakeholder

Then you.

If you want it big, you must get better at treating these stakeholders with respect first. And even when nothing is left for you, you can wake up the next day and repeat the process.

That’s how big things are grown.

The problem of loving your idea more than money

I have seen struggling businesses that had the wind of luck bring g to them a buyer yet they refuse to sell hanging just on the idea that “it’s not about the money for me”

I think this is hypocrisy. The reason why we all wake up daily is to make something out of our lives and time and make money while doing it.

So when you deny the place of money in whatever you are building, I think you have denied the faith.

Acknowledging the place and importance of money does mean selling out on your value or diluting your character, it just has to do with setting the perspective right so that everyone can be on the same table without wondering where they are sitting on.

As you build your business, know that it’s about the money and not necessarily the idea. I’m yet to see an idea that fed people. It’s when an idea makes money that people and nations are fed.

So, even if it’s not about the money now, it will be soon. So get ready. Get prepared, get excited and ready to talk money alongside your idea.

That is assuming you want big business to come out of such an idea.

In Conclusion…

With these few points of mine, I hope I have been able to convince you and not confuse you about the points you need to pay attention to when you want to build a big business instead of getting stuck with something small.

To your #Moneysense.