Even with the use of technology which allows distributed operations and enables companies to utilize a global network of call centers or manufacturing facilities, plus allows people to work at home, there seems to be an acceptance: that, in order to grow, you must ADD quantity of some sort.
Back when I was running my companies, which were in services, not products, I, too, thought that I had to grow by adding. In the context of a service business, this usually meant adding people. However, if I was going to do it all again, I don't think I would take this approach. For one thing, for many services firm owners - consultants and the like - the skills being offered by the owner represent a unique set and cannot be replicated on the job market. While it's possible to hire a few support staff - people to answer phones or to do the filing or deal with the correspondence etc. - the core consulting competency rests on such a unique blend of the owner's skills and experience that it is not replicable.
This was actually my situation - had I bothered to step back and look at it - and I would always counsel anyone in a similar position to think carefully before trying to grow in a conventional way by adding people with skill sets theoretically close to yours. In hindsight, what I should have done is raise my rates and cut down on the volume of work coming into my firms. Over time, this would have meant slower growth in dollars and volume of accounts, but it would have given me a nice life, free from a lot of headaches!
This is why small business owners need to consider what growth means in terms of quality:
Growing qualitatively means you have a good income, but free time... the opportunity to only do work that is really meaningful to you... the time to look at other ways to contribute to society, such as volunteer work... and a deepening of your own skill and knowledge base.
If you doubt me, consider one of the definitions of the word "grow" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary: "to have an increasing influence". Sometimes, a pre-eminent stature and the influence that goes with it, even if you are close to being a one-man (or woman) band, is worth far more than all the quantitative size you can muster.
If you find yourself at a crossroads where the only way to handle the volume of work and
keep the business afloat seems to be to add more people, take another look and see how a qualitative approach to growth might provide better solutions.
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer
Why You Need To Go On Interviewing Your Employees- After You Hire Them is available via the following link http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/other_peoples_problems/9268001
