Growth is the primary objective for any business, which is the reason why organizations are willing to go the extra mile to push forward. While unlocking opportunities is one aspect of inching closer to your growth targets, it is equally vital to identify the challenges that may be slowing down, or worse, killing your business. The sooner you are able to get hold of them, the quicker you can resolve them and take your enterprise in the right direction.
Here is an infographic that lists the common challenges that might be slowing down the growth of your business.
Challenge #1: Lack of innovation
Perhaps the biggest reason why your business may not be growing is a lack of innovation. Automation is the key, whether it is about automating call center solutions, finance and accounting, human resource management, manufacturing workflows, marketing operations or any other aspect of running your business. The lesser your dependence on human workers, the better are the chances of moving up the ladder.
Challenge #2: Less focus on customers
Customers are the key growth drivers for any business, and the ones that do not go above and beyond to deliver the best products, business phone service cost and support to them are bound to lose on their growth targets. The ever-evolving customer expectations and market trends are the main hindrances, but you need to be on top of them. Seamless communication is also vital to ensure that your customers are happy and satisfied.
Challenge #3: Bad buzz
Unhappy customers bring your business bad buzz, which is the easiest way to kill it. Anything that customers have to say about a business is easy to believe and can impact the opinions and decisions of potential customers as well. Your prime concern, therefore, should be to go the extra mile to make them happy.
Challenge #4: Inadequate funding
Not having enough money to fund your business will hamper its growth. How can you imagine opening the growth potential unless you invest in the business? You need money for everything, from product development to employee remuneration, business and marketing operations and technology adoption. Explore funding options and ensure that you fuel the organization with enough money.
Challenge #5: Low team productivity
Team productivity is a significant aspect of business growth, and you cannot get even closer to your targets without the support of a committed and productive team. First things first, you need to hire judiciously and onboard people with the right capabilities and experience. Give them the right tools to maximize their productivity and you will be able to more with less.
Challenge #6: Employee dissatisfaction
Apart from low productivity, low levels of employee satisfaction can be a silent killer for any organization. Just as you must go above and beyond to make your customers happy, follow the same approach for employees as well. A happy and satisfied workforce will contribute to your growth and will stay with you as well. Retention improves reputation and cuts down the costs in the long run.
Challenge #7: Strong competition
Another major challenge that can stunt your growth is strong competition in the domain. A greater number of competitors mean that your potential customers have more options. The probability of choosing your business over them depends greatly on the quality of products, services and support you offer. Moreover, you need to have a great marketing plan and right tools to outperform your competition and win customers.
Challenge #8: Burden of compliance
Organizations often end up in a rut when they have to fulfil multiple compliance requirements to run smoothly. Not doing so can land you in legal trouble, which can impact your growth. Conversely, complying with them can create financial pressures on the organization. Still, the burden of compliance is something that you have to bear, the sooner, the better!
Challenge #9: Absence of good work culture
Another major growth challenge for businesses is the absence of a good work culture. It affects your partners, employers and customers and reduces the trust they have in your organization. Lack of trust translates into poor credibility and bad reputation. These are not great from the growth perspective and can push your business far behind the competitors.
Challenge #10: Dearth of strategic leadership
Besides poor work culture, you cannot grow without strategic leadership. Unless there is a good leader to help the organization with the right kind of experience, positive attitude and strong understanding of the market, growth is just a distant dream. A strong leader, on the other hand, can even infuse life into a dead enterprise and get it going strong.