7 signs your business is outpacing you (and how to catch up)

Growth is a beautiful thing—until it isn’t. One minute you are thrilled to be taking on more and more orders. The next, you are drowning in chaos, wondering how your dream business became a runaway train.

A rapidly growing business is a high-quality problem to have, but it is still a problem. If you’re not ready to deal with growth, it has the capacity to derail your entire business. We’ve spoken to hundreds of entrepreneurs just like you who are driven, who take big risks, and who refuse to settle. These same entrepreneurs are often overwhelmed, stretched thin, and struggling to manage a company that is outpacing them.

In this blog, we reveal seven signs that your business is beginning to outpace you. Identifying with any of these signs doesn’t mean you are failing—it is a wake-up call. Because anticipation and awareness are the first steps to taking back control.

The ultimate competitive advantage is anticipation.

Anticipation is POWER.

Every problem can be an opportunity as long as you are prepared. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. All businesses are different, but the patterns are universal. By studying the signs that your business is growing faster than you can manage, you’ll be ready to tackle the challenge and come out stronger than before.

Signs your business is growing faster than you are ready for

1. Overwhelm and burnout

When you’re constantly feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or burned out, it is a sign that the demands of your business exceed your capacity. Your ultimate goal should be for your business to function smoothly without you. If you are feeling burned out, it is a sign that you are a business operator instead of a business owner. It’s time to change your mindset and your systems to allow your company to grow.

2. Lack of vision or purpose

If your only business goal is simply to turn a profit, you’ll struggle to inspire employees and draw loyal customers. A compelling vision is the foundation of a growing company. It creates energy and keeps you focused on your purpose—even as you adjust to market demands. A compelling vision is what creates and unites raving fans among your team and clients.

3. Poor team dynamics

High employee turnover or a lack of alignment among your team are signals that your company is growing beyond its cultural or structural foundations. Great teams don’t happen by chance—they rally behind a clear vision or purpose and feel empowered to take ownership.

4. An increase in customer complaints

If you see an increase in customer complaints and poor reviews, that is a tell-tale sign that your company is growing faster than you can keep up with. The quality of your products and customer service is like a mirror of how well your systems can keep up with the demand.

5. Operational inefficiencies

If your processes, systems, logistics and operations are breaking down, that’s a sign that your systems are struggling to scale and are not prepared for growth.

6. Financial strain

In the early stages of your business, cash flow was probably an ever-present issue. But if you are experiencing cash flow problems again, despite increased revenue, it’s a sign that your spending, forecasting, or pricing strategy isn’t aligned with sustainable growth.

7. Neglecting personal or team development

The greatest chokehold on any business is the psychology of its leader. Your business grows to the extent that you grow. If you’ve stopped learning, you will be the bottleneck in your company’s growth and success. The same goes for neglecting the development of your team. Your company’s greatest asset is its people. Investing in development now will pay dividends in the future. ​​

How to catch up

If anticipation is power, education is the tool that will get you there. When it comes to education, you have two choices.

One is to learn over time through experience and failure. Failure may be painful, but it is a powerful teacher and an opportunity for growth.

The truth is, successful businesses leave clues. So, to accelerate your progress, you can study other businesses and emulate the most successful strategies. You can also learn from the failures of other companies. All companies have different offerings, but there are patterns in business that are absolutely consistent. By studying these patterns, you’ll condense your learning from decades into years or months. You’ll anticipate pitfalls, and you’ll be able to make the right move at the right time to supercharge your business growth.

If you are hitting your growth ceiling right now, don’t panic., But don’t stand still either—now is the time to immediately invest in understanding business patterns at a deep level. Business accelerator training is one way to fast-track your education and prepare for growth.

The fastest way to achieve success is to model someone who is already successful.

Uber was founded in 2009 and immediately began to disrupt the traditional taxi industry. It grew exponentially fast, expanding to over 60 countries in just a few years. It was the darling of the tech industry, and investments were pouring in. Uber had a reputation for “growing at all costs,” expanding quickly before competitors could catch up and dealing with consequences later.

However, consequences did come, and they nearly brought Uber down. Between 2014 and 2017, tensions with governments and taxi unions erupted, and Uber was embroiled in multiple lawsuits, worldwide protests, accusations of a toxic workplace and a sexual harassment scandal. The win-at-all-costs style of founder Travis Kalanick worked early on, but was unsustainable and ill-suited to a stable, global company. Uber’s growth massively outpaced the company's operational and leadership capabilities.

Fortunately, Uber found ways to adapt. It brought in a new CEO—Dara Khosrowshahi—who began to scale back operations and repair the company culture and reputation. Uber improved compliance and cooperation with regulators and introduced new safety features to improve trust with customers. Uber eventually expanded and rebranded into a mobility platform with rideshare, freight, food and grocery delivery plus self-driving car investments—and it all grew in line with a greater vision and overall strategy.

The lesson we can take away from Uber is that you can’t grow faster than your values, vision, system or leadership allow. Aggressive growth without a strong culture creates internal chaos for team members and dysfunction for customers.

At some point in the lifecycle of your company, you will need to pivot. You will need to adjust, and you will need to simplify. If you anticipate those changes, you won’t have to face the backlash and financial fallout that plagued Uber.

Expedite your learning and growth

The fastest way to reach stable growth without the pitfalls of a rapidly expanding business is to enlist the help of an entrepreneur business coach. A coach has not only studied the patterns and life cycles of companies, but they have also worked with entrepreneurs and leaders over and over again to successfully grow and scale their companies. They know exactly what it takes to get you to your goals. They can see more clearly than you can where your business is currently, what obstacles lie in your way and the path that will get you to sustainable growth and massive profitability.

Executive coaching for new businesses will give you a sturdy foundation from which to grow your company. You’ll refine your vision, build scalable systems and develop your leadership skills. This will allow you to anticipate the challenges you’ll face in each stage of your business life cycle and give you the tools to adapt so that you come out stronger, rather than fall apart under the pressure.

In the next blog, we will break down the 10 stages of a business lifestyle, along with the challenges businesses typically face in each of those stages of growth. By understanding where you are, you can anticipate hurdles, avoid landmines and map a course to where you want to go.

Successful companies have shown us over and over again that hitting your growth ceiling isn’t a failure, it’s a signal. If you can adapt, restructure and adjust your mindset, it is possible to survive and thrive.

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Growth can be a great opportunity, but it can also become overwhelming. If your business is expanding too quickly and you're not prepared, it can disrupt everything. Check out this infographic for signs that your business is growing faster than you can manage.