Small business executives should focus on getting experienced people and developing systems.

$10 TO $25 MILLION COMPANY CHALLENGES

Starting and growing a company past $10 million in revenue in the US is even rarer. Roughly 96% of all US companies never achieve this mark.

As the CEO, you’ve guided the company through the most challenging part – surviving and carving out your space in the market. That’s the good news. The bad news is that now the competition has taken notice and you’re in their cross-hairs.

This presents a new set of challenges, often called growing pains. The chaos of the early-stage growth must subside; it’s time to start instilling processes and procedures and properly training executives to manage growth — to grow through the Value Valve.

CEOs must adapt to these challenges while continuing to work through the ongoing challenges of the previous revenue tier.

Profile of a $10 to $25 Million Small Business

Characteristics	Struggles
Cowboy management still in place (by original founders or first employees) Staff is growing and energetic, but untrained Founder is still the strategy- and thought-leader Strategy is still largely focused on growth at any cost Company is dependent almost entirely on the genius of the CEO	Competition has taken notice and has begun to be more aggressive Cash flow is a monthly problem Competition has created pricing pressures Staffing and turnover have become more serious issues Remaining competitive with employee benefits is becoming a challenge Growth strategy has become a focal point Training for staff and managers is challenging or non-existent Employee retention has become tougher Hiring is still shoot-from-the-hip Sales growth is slowing Sales management problems are becoming an issue Competitive strategy for market acceptance is becoming essential Customer mix is becoming an issue Involvement of founder’s family conflicts with company needs Technology changes and upgrades have become more pressing

Characteristics

Struggles