Grow to Greatness : Smart Growth for Entrepreneurial Businesses

Simply put, most entrepreneurial start-ups fail. Those fortunate enough to succeed then face a second, major challenge: how to grow. This book focuses on the key questions an entrepreneur must answer in order to grow a business. Based on extensive research of more than fifty successful growth companies, Grow to Greatness discusses the top ten growth challenges and how to overcome them. Author Edward D. Hess dispels the myth that businesses must grow or die. Growth can create value. But, too much growth too fast outstrips effective processes, controls, or management capacity. Viewing growth as "recurring change," Grow to Greatness lays out a framework for how to approach business development—and how to manage its risks and pace. The book then takes readers through chapters that explore whether the time is right to grow, how to do it, and how to manage the vital reality that growth requires the right leadership, culture, and people. Uniquely, this book aims to prepare readers for the day-to-day reality of growth, offering up the lived experiences of eleven entrepreneurs. Six workshops to assess where readers stand now and a suite of templates that will prove to be useful over time help bring the book's teachings to life. After reading this book, entrepreneurs will have a real understanding of their readiness to grow and place in the growth cycle, as well as a concrete action plan for where to take their businesses next. Many books address how to start a business, but this is a unique, go-to resource for readers who want to learn how to thrive beyond the start-up phase. Simply put, most entrepreneurial start-ups fail. Those fortunate enough to succeed then face a second, major challenge: how to grow. This book focuses on the key questions an entrepreneur must answer in order to grow a business. Based on extensive research of more than fifty successful growth companies, __Grow to Greatness__ discusses the top ten growth challenges and how to overcome them.Author Edward D. Hess dispels the myth that businesses must grow or die. Growth can create value. But, too much growth too fast outstrips effective processes, controls, or management capacity. Viewing growth as "recurring change," __Grow to Greatness__ lays out a framework for how to approach business development—and how to manage its risks and pace.The book then takes readers through chapters that explore whether the time is right to grow, how to do it, and how to manage the vital reality that growth requires the right leadership, culture, and people. Uniquely, this book aims to prepare readers for the day-to-day reality of growth, offering up the lived experiences of eleven entrepreneurs. Six workshops to assess where readers stand now and a suite of templates that will prove to be useful over time help bring the book's teachings to life. After reading this book, entrepreneurs will have a real understanding of their readiness to grow and place in the growth cycle, as well as a concrete action plan for where to take their businesses next.Many books address how to start a business, but this is a unique, go-to resource for readers who want to learn how to thrive beyond the start-up phase. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 1. The Roadmap to Smart Growth 12 Part I: Whether to Grow 30 2. The “Truth” About Growth 32 3. Preconditions to Growth 56 Part II: How to Grow 78 4. The Four Ps: Planning, Prioritization, Processes, and Pace 80 5. The Four Ways to Grow Your Business 112 6. Creating Three Growth Plans 143 Part III: Growth Requires the Right Leadership, Culture, and People 164 7. Growth Is Much More Than a Strategy 166 8. The Entrepreneur Must Grow, Too 195 9. The Silver Bullet: Highly Engaged Employees 221 10. Building an Effective Management Team 250 Reminders for the Entrepreneur 276 Notes 278 Bibliography 286 Recommended Reading 290 Index 294 The roadmap to smart growth Part I. Whether to grow. The "truth" about growth Preconditions to growth Part II. How to grow. The 4Ps : planning, prioritization, processes, and pace The four ways to grow your business Creating three growth plans Part III. Growth requires the right leadership, culture, and people. Growth is much more than a strategy The entrepreneur must grow, too! The silver bullet : highly engaged employees Building an effective management team. Grow to Greatness provides entrepreneurs with a roadmap for planning, prioritizing, pacing, and managing business growth. It is the one book an entrepreneur needs to intelligently overcome the challenges of growth by using best practices from over 50 successful firms.