What stalls growth series

What Stalls Business Growth?

Working side-by-side with top mid-market businesses across New Zealand and Australia, SSBG Director Leigh Paulden is often asked to help solve problems with growth.

For over 30 years SSBG Director Leigh Paulden has honed his business skills by immersing himself in the best executive education in the world. Combining his 30 years’ experience across 30 industries with internationally proven business growth strategies, Leigh has identified what stalls business growth. These are the key reasons why businesses don’t grow as fast as they should or stop growing altogether.

What stalls growth? The capacity and capability of your people

Did you know that studies have shown that on average, the general workforce is only productive for 50-70% of the time? Flipping the coin, this means that between 30-50% of the time, nothing productive happens. A common mistake companies make is hiring extra staff because they think they have reached capacity in productivity. But in reality, they already have enough staff, they just need to increase the productivity rates of their existing workforce.

An often overlooked driver of growth is the capacity of your people. Do you have enough capacity in your workforce to grow? Read More>>

During the last decade, strategy has been the main focus of high-growth companies around the globe. This is because a well-executed strategy is the driving engine behind revenue growth. If you are a mid-market business and are having problems increasing your revenue, then it is time to take a closer look at your strategy.

Without clear direction, business growth comes to a sudden halt. The reason is simple. Companies that don’t have a clear strategy do not have the structure, direction or cohesion needed for sustainable revenue growth. Read More >>

What stalls growth? Having a weak or non-existent strategy
What stalls growth? Poor execution

The third reason for stalled growth lies with how you execute your strategy – how you get your staff to do the things you want them to do to achieve your goals. If you and your staff are not productively implementing a great strategy, growth will be hampered and your company will perform poorly.

There are many business theories out there designed to help tighten execution, but I stand by the internationally proven “4 Disciplines of Execution” method. Read More >>

I have seen growing companies that look good on the surface, with revenue going up and net profit percentage still the same, and yet they were going broke. They were growing but they were running out of cash. Why? Because they couldn’t work out how to manage all the different financial levers in a business to achieve scalable sustainable business growth.

The fact is that growth sucks cash out of your business rapidly. Cash is the oxygen required by your business, so understanding cash flow management, knowing your cash conversion cycles and improving them is vital for growth. You can survive a long time without profit, but without cash, you will quickly fail. Read More >>

There comes a time in every growing business when current strategy, capacity and resources are just not cutting it. When growth has stalled or is happening so fast you feel out of control. When you need action and results. At SSBG, we help business leaders who are frustrated with their growth rate and know there is a better way to scale.

If you’re serious about business growth – get in touch and let’s see how we can move your business forward.

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  • About the Author, Leigh Paulden

    Leigh Paulden

     

    Leigh Paulden is an author and internationally certified business growth consultant with over 30 years of experience across 30+ different industries. Offering business management consulting and business advisory services, Leigh works with mid-market business leaders looking to grow. He creates the clarity and certainty needed to make great decisions and achieve scalable and sustainable success.

    Find out more about Leigh or contact him to discuss taking your business growth to the next level.