The 5 points about Good Growth for a company I usually highlight are 
1. It increases cash flow
2. It increases ability
3. It increases visibility
4. Increases customer satisfaction
5. Increases ROI (Return on Investment)
Not all growth is good. Business transformation needs to be done with design and purpose. Cancer grows very rapidly and it is partly due to the uncontrolled nature of that growth that it causes damage. The image to the right is my Modern Magellans Map - The More Cycle. I use it to illustrate the pathways a company can take to control growth. This map is also useful as a company considers how to increase market share and to broaden its customer base.
A business that is growing simply for the sake of saying they can is risking the farm. The get big fast or go home mentality works very well if you want to play the all or nothing game. If you are using OPM (Other People's Money on the Trump Blog) and you have no reason to feel bad if you lose it, then go ahead. It is tempting to make a run up the mountain, to get to the top first and fast. I would suggest asking experienced mountain climbers how many take that approach. (A nice lens on OPM is here )
The cost of growth is not just in dollars. Often staff and facilities are stretched beyond their limits. In the comments after Guy Kawasaki's interview with Threadless CEO, Jeffrey Kalmikoff, Mr. Kalmikoff admitted that at certain times Threadless was overwhelmed and under-staffed. Clearly, the people who complained were not very forgiving.
The toll on employees can be long-lasting. If you push people too far, then you risk pushing them onto a course where they look to work elsewhere. Training new people is hard; training them when their predecessor has left is even more difficult. Unless you run a very small, family -only, business you need to treat people well. You will not do the majority of customer interaction personally. You want the front-line people to represent you well. They are more likely to do that when they are happy.The cash flow issue is not a simple subject and I will cover it in more detail another time. An increasing cash flow does wonders for just about everyone. It demonstrates health, improving conditions, and it opens up resources that are difficult to find. A good cash flow is more valuable than cash in the bank in many cases. Investors love good cash flow. Banks love good cash flow. Your suppliers really love an increasing cash flow.
Controlled growth shows leadership maturity. Controlled growth demonstrates business skill. The old saying that "Pigs get fed while hogs get slaughtered" speaks directly to the issue of controlled growth. Grow in a direction of your choosing or in a direction that your target customers, not the overall market, choose. Learn to live with in the resources available to you.
Don't sacrifice tomorrow for a big splash today.
If your growth plans are not going to meet the 5 criteria above, you may want to rethink them. Test marketing on a segment of your current customer base is a very good idea. I recall reading that the Google founders held the release of their site until they felt they could deliver a quality product that could meet the demand they expected. Just because you can do something, it does not mean you should.
Do you have any great stories of uncontrolled growth? Please share them so that we can all benefit.
I am still accepting Great Maps to be included in the Great Maps collection over on the book website. You can signup to become an author or just email me the details and I will see that it is properly posted and linked back to you.
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