While success means something different to every entrepreneur, most tend to define it in terms of growth. However, growth plateaus come in many forms, each with unique challenges, and all are hard in their own way.
I decided to use this executive leadership round-up to bring together the collective wisdom of various business leaders, experts, and professionals on the growth plateau and how to deal with it. You may have something to add — if so, I’m looking forward to hearing about your experiences in this conversation.
Why do businesses plateau? It’s part of the business growth journey.
Growth plateaus are common, yet we’re often surprised when they occur. Maybe we think we’ve planned for such an event, or just overlooked that it could happen, or are even blindsided because a customer’s needs are changing. Understanding and navigating through growth plateaus are crucial and requires us to be an active participant in solving the challenges.
It’s crucial to recognize feelings of frustration. In fact, frustration is a clue to a growth plateau’s arrival. Though no changes occur, your business is not achieving the revenue goals set based on many years of consistent revenue increases. Acknowledging this is OK. In fact, it’s a necessary step to be able to break through by making changes that last.
For Shantanu Verma, the founder & CEO of Filled with Clients, growth plateaus are a natural part of any business journey so it is important to recognize them early and take decisive action. One of the biggest turning points, according to Verma, was realizing that what got us here won’t get us there.
What can you do to face the challenges of this unavoidable growth stage?
I’ve outlined a roadmap to help you overcome this growth plateau.
Let’s focus on these five key points:
1. Your company has entered a new phase, and old tactics are ineffective.
2. Your business goals and growth strategy are no longer aligned.
3. Unforeseen outcomes result from communications and actions.
4. Competitors are evolving, and you are not.
5. The emotional intelligence of executives will make or break growth.
Diane Titterton, the founder of Time to Flourish, thinks it is important to ask questions that enable us to take a step back and look from a wider perspective at where we are now and how we got there. She finds keeping an eye on competitor activity valuable, especially regarding big businesses with big budgets, as their activity is normally backed up with robust market research.
Growth plateau as an indication of achievement.
A growth plateau could be a sign of success in and of itself, a reflection of a business reaching the goals it set out to achieve. This perspective can bring a sense of reassurance and optimism, a sign that you’ve achieved a certain level of success, and that now is the time to set new goals and strategies to continue growing.
A clear strategic plan spanning 36 months or more can empower you, providing a roadmap for your journey. While your current position is a starting point, you’ll continue to learn and adapt to reach your long-term goals.
Jeanne Willson, joint CEO at Six Figure Business Coaching, says growth plateaus can be tricky, but recognizing when old tactics aren’t working is such a pivotal step. She hit a plateau last year, and the key was realigning her strategy with her long-term vision and focusing on building up soft skills within the team.
Determining your next steps toward sustainable growth is crucial and involves tackling many internal and external factors.
Recognizing and addressing the reasons behind a growth plateau is crucial for business owners. It is often the key to overcoming slowed growth and steering the business back on the path to success.
For Iris Goldfeder, the CEO of GasStoveCreative, recognizing and addressing the reasons behind a business growth plateau is an important point. She points out that staying curious and understanding the stall can be the key to overcoming slowed growth and unlocking your business’s full potential.
Empowering your decision-making and leadership starts with clearly understanding your past performance and current position. This awareness is the key to making informed decisions and driving effective change to achieve greater business success.
Being willing to change — adapting and innovating — and having the right team helped Danielle Weil, the CEO and Founder at Danielle Weil, move through growth plateaus on her journey.
What’s Next
If you’re eager to learn more, this in-depth blog post is for you. In it, I analyze and explain these key areas leading to and providing actionable strategies to address growth plateaus.
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Join the conversation on either topic by clicking on the link to the original post here.
Share your thoughts and ideas — I’m excited to hear from you!
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Jess Dewell is a professional who has been navigating the intersection of operations and strategy for more than 20 years. She helps organizations move forward by identifying the sweet spot where strategy catalyzes operations, fosters innovation, and drives businesses to the forefront of their industries.
Jess is committed to helping businesses turn challenges into scalable opportunities and constraints into springboards for growth. Send her a direct message with your questions.
Check out her Growth Framework Reset —a powerful tool designed to help you uncover bottlenecks, identify essential skills, and initiate actionable steps for your journey ahead. This program focuses on your long-term vision. With a roadmap that spans 3 to 5 years or even more, you’ll prioritize milestones that drive meaningful achievement beyond the next quarter.
