Ready to Grow Your Business? January 20, 2010My CareerOff

You dug in your high heels and stayed strong through a tough year, but you’re ready to up the ante in 2010. And women business owners share your glass-half-full outlook.

Sixty percent plan to expand their companies this year, while 34 percent believe their headcount and performance will at least remain stable. So, how do you grow? Depends on your business.

“One size fits all growth strategies usually don’t work. The key is sensitivity to context, knowing where you are in the cycle and strategizing based on those milestones,” says Pam Springer, president and CEO of Manta, the largest free online source of information on small business.

“Early on, you’re planning based on driving revenue – then gross margin. Not all customers make sense to keep as your business evolves, because some are more profitable than others. You’re refining your A-client profile. Then you’re solving for scale.”

Where do you start? With your team. “In the early stages, you want generalists, people who excel at more than one thing and can manage different tasks and functions in parallel.” As you evolve, however, you need specialists. “Generalists won’t have the expertise to take it to the next level.”

The Grenier Growth Curve outlines five business stages – and highlights what to focus on in each (e.g., phase one requires growth through creativity, phase three through delegation.)

What about funding? ArticlesBase.com, Entrepreneur.com and Raising Capital offer strategies for securing capital – based on size and stage.

Beware the curse of growing too fast. Here’s how to set a healthy pace.

PINK Profile: In our exclusive interview with Springer, she tells how daily stand-up meetings keep her company strong and team engaged.

“Only in growth, and change, paradoxically enough, is ture
security to be found.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh

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