Occasionally a customer will outgrow what you offer, or you will outgrow the services your customer needs.

A young man I know used to be a one-man show in marketing. As his clientele grew, he began hiring people to help, and eventually had a staff of ten, and his overhead costs were exponentially higher than when he was on his own. The fees he had to charge to maintain his infrastructure changed, and were no longer workable for some of his clients.

That is the Life Cycle of Growth.

Relationships change, such as when an owner-to-owner relationship becomes an owner-to-staff relationship. The same is true on the other side of the equation. When your customer’s business grows, the relationship you have with them may change, and you may be dealing with staff instead of the owner. Their demands might change, you no may longer fit their needs or their profile.

Look at it this way:

If you were a one-man-show providing service to an automotive company and that company grew into something like GM, you couldn’t hope to service them. They need 500 of you, not just you⏤unless you were able to scale up to their needs.

What is your company’s life cycle of growth? At what point will you outgrow your customer base, or watch them outgrow you?

BEFORE YOU GO:

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. How has your company changed or grown over the last year?

2. What impact has this change had on your relationships with customers or staff?

3. What advice can you share with others about managing growth?

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