Businesses tend to grow in cycles, alternating between growth spurts and stagnation periods, which may not be a sustainable approach to ensuring long-term scaling. Additionally, the organization may be growing at a much faster rate than it can sustain in terms of customer service and staffing, with potentially devastating effects.
For a business to grow sustainably, it needs to start by addressing its core values. It requires customers that align with the business's values and products that solve those customers' problems. Sustainable growth isn't something that can be "hacked" into existence. Trying to do so might result in the company losing its identity for the sake of rapid growth. To help, 14 members of Forbes Business Council explore how a business can ensure its sustainable growth over the long term.
Forbes Business Council members share tips on creating and maintaining a sustainable business.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Have Multiple Growth Plans
It’s key to have growth plans (for one, three and five years) with specific goals and projections. Following a framework will ensure you know how you’re tracking at all times and do not overinvest. Entrepreneurs by nature take calculated risks, but these risks should be strategic and part of long-term thinking. The bigger and faster your company grows, the more important it is to think about scale and plan for the future. - Muraly Srinarayanathas, Computek College
2. Tie SMART Goals And Metrics
Strategy is important, but execution is everything. SMART goals tied to metrics that determine when the next threshold is for hiring, coupled with a strong talent acquisition strategy and an onboarding program, are critical to ensuring the continuation of quality in your organization. I believe in hiring true top-tier talent then trusting them with the autonomy to accomplish organizational success. - Mark Daniels, M+A Architects
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3. Evolve The Organization's Story
Sustainable growth happens when a business leader finds a way to continuously evolve the organization's story via innovating, collaborating and scaling while at the same time keeping the purpose story of the organization consistent. The organizational growth story must also weave in the employees' growth story for it to be successful. - Anjali Sharma, Narrative: The Business of Stories
4. Know Your Core Values
When you interview people, don’t just ask them about their hard skills. Ask them questions that give you a sense of how aligned they are with the company culture. For example, one of our core values is “vulnerability.” I like to ask questions about failure to see if the person can speak openly about some of their low points and hopefully how they overcame adversity. - Corey Lewis, 1AND1 Life
5. Have A Standard Operating Procedure
Having a standard operating procedure (SOP) is invaluable because it allows a business to grow in a way where everyone knows their role in the organization at every step of the way. The SOP helps with new employee onboarding, creates standards of excellence, develops redundancies and ensures the business has a reliable process to be followed. - Robert Brill, BrillMedia.co
6. Let Go Of Micromanaging
You need to be able to let go of common traits like micromanaging and instead focus on managing effectively. This includes always providing some sort of scope of work and always being available for questions when expanding and hiring. Having these scopes of works assembled makes it easier on yourself to retrain if someone has a temporary role as your organization expands. - Amareen Dhaliwal, CCRPS - Clinical Research Training
7. Be An Empowering Leader
Growth brings tremendous pressure to leaders to keep delivering. It is necessary to give up "power" over time. Become a more empowering/delegative leader to nurture your subordinates and allow them to shine. This will encourage creativity, innovation and increased motivation in your organization. All these factors are crucial if you want to take your company to the next level. - Steve Suryadinata, Mata Investments
8. Focus On Your Behaviors
Business leaders need to focus on their own behaviors and the behaviors of their team to foster a culture to sustain the growth. Focusing only on strategy, processes and systems alone might get you short-term growth, but sustainable growth can only be achieved by focusing on the behaviors and the culture of your organization. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, as rightfully stated by Peter Drucker. - Mohammad Anwar, Softway
9. Commit To ESG Goals
Regardless of industry, environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) now plays a vital role in driving business growth by attracting investors, employees and customers, all of whom pay attention to how companies approach sustainability. Brands must not only commit to ESG goals but take a data-backed approach to prove they're making an impact—otherwise, they won't pass the sniff test from today's battle-tested consumers and investors. - Brenden Millstein, Carbon Lighthouse
10. Ensure Your Hiring Process Is Sustainable
To grow sustainably, your hiring process needs to be sustainable first. Invest in your hiring team so that they can scale with the needs of your company and so they feel well-equipped to find the best employees. One bad hire can make it much harder for great hires down the road, and it costs your team in productivity, morale and employee attrition. Putting your hiring team first is essential. - Howard Brown, ringDNA
11. Focus On Continued Innovation
Innovation is vital to ensuring sustainable growth of a company. In a dynamic business environment, every company has to find ways of improving their product, idea or services in order to grow. If you do not try to innovate, your business runs the risk of becoming stagnant and unable to compete in the market. - Divya Annasingh Windross, DAW Global Services
12. Nurture A Learning Culture
Nurturing a learning culture is vital for sustainable growth. If you focus on building a team that learns through rapid experimentation, learns from each other and respects the competition, you create an atmosphere of continuous innovation. One must consistently build new strengths. A company culture that supports missing a basket but winning the game is primed for creating a sustainable advantage. - Pankaj Srivastava, Practicalspeak
13. Build Relationships With Universities
Establish long-term relationships with universities. Develop a career roadmap. Fresh blood will bring new ideas and energy from one side. From another side, it should support growth of more experienced employees. - Sergej Derzap, Amasty
14. Find The Right Financial Partner
Sustainable growth is well suited when it is paralleled with access to capital for where it is headed. Having the right financial partner who is there to assist in your capital needs will make the adjustments to ensure your growth is being sustained with the capital to support it. Few financial partners actually walk the walk in this domain. Finding one who doesn't just talk but rather acts is key. - Paul L. Gunn, KUOG Corporation
