5+1 questions to ask yourself if your business is stuck

Many small businesses are profitable not as a result of, but despite what their management is doing.

At the grand scheme of things, there is nothing wrong with that. Not all companies will grow and move from infancy to adolescence.

But if you happen to be one of those businesses and feel stuck, you might want to ask yourself a couple of questions:

1. Do you want a job or a business?

Both have their advantages, but they don’t mix well. If you want a job, don’t aspire to the liberties of running a business. If you want a business, accept the fact that you can’t do it all on your own.

2. Are you building an organization?

Many entrepreneurs believe they do. But what they actually do very often is bring a bunch of people together and hope for the best. You want your business not to be dependent on the people who run it. You’re done developing your organization when every process is clear and documented and anybody can be replaced without a hiccup. Yourself included.

3. Are you suffocating your own business?

Many entrepreneurs are natural salesmen. They are great at bringing in new business. What they often fail to realize is that their company is not ready to handle the volume. There is nothing worse than seeing missed opportunities pass by on a daily basis. You won’t be able to stand it. You’ll keep bringing in new business until someone snaps and you lose your biggest client. If you are the salesmen type, you absolutely need a partner or a reliable employee to take care of the operational background.

4. Did you go viral?

Many agencies offer viral campaigns, but few products go truly viral and their creators are almost always surprised and unable to handle it. Which is no surprise at all. If your product does go viral by an extraordinary stroke of luck, the best you can do is be honest and act fast.

5. Are you prepared to fight?

People in your company got used to doing things their way. Now you’re going to tell them to do it some other way. Expect resistance. Maybe even rebellion. Not because they are bad people, but simply because it’s different. They have to make an investment, a change they don’t see the point of. So it’s your job to make them understand how the organization and how they personally will benefit from the new setup. It will never work, unless they understand and own that. You may have to let the ones who can’t or don’t want to play by the new rules go.

+1. Did you tell your mom you’d be late for dinner?

Transforming your bunch of people into an organization on top of dealing with routine operations is a lot of tough work. Has to be done though.

Ask yourself these questions and you’ll be less likely to be the greatest obstacle that prevents your business from growing.