You’ve probably heard the saying “what got you here, won’t get you there”, but now you’re feeling it. Your business was doing great, you had a growth strategy that was working, revenue and other key metrics were rising. Then, the numbers started to plateau. At first you thought it was a blip and waited (not so) patiently for the numbers to increase again, but no such luck.

When this happens, a lot of business owners tend to assume they have a marketing problem. And maybe that’s the case, but over my fifteen years helping business owners grow I’ve noticed that often there are other issues holding the business back as well.

So, before you double your marketing efforts or change up your marketing strategy, make sure you’re not overlooking one or more things on the operations and leadership side of the business that will get your business unstuck. Here are 7 possible reasons why your business isn’t growing.

You Don’t Have a Vision

Entrepreneurs are busy, way too busy in my opinion. And many business owners tend to be so busy with the day-to-day work that they ignore being the visionary of the business. It’s your responsibility to think big, create innovative ideas, and have an aligned vision and mindset for the business.

You need to set time for big picture thinking. This will be crucial for the present and future growth of your business.

You Don’t Have a Plan

This is related to the first key point I talked about. If you don’t know where you’re headed, then it’s impossible to create a solid plan and strategy to grow your business.

But even if you have a clear vision, a lack of strategic planning can be a major reason for growth stagnation. So, you need a blueprint that helps you focus on the specific steps to achieve your short-term and long-term goals.

Your Business Isn’t Systemized

You know what’s even better than successfully achieving or completing something… being able to replicate that success over and over again! If you’ve experienced growth before, it’s important to document what worked by creating systems. When you have processes in place that are the basis of every action you and your team do, growth becomes consistent and repeatable.

You Don’t Delegate

A lot of entrepreneurs avoid delegating for many reasons. But whatever the reason is, your time becomes a limiting factor for the business. Your time is the only thing that you can’t create more of. You may try to work harder, more efficiently, or longer – but you’ll never be able to do it all if you expect your business to keep growing.

It’s time that you start trusting other people to take over some of your responsibilities. It’s time for you to let go and lead. You can hire a team to support you in achieving your business goals, so that you are no longer the bottleneck.

You’re Not Leading

Growth and leadership go hand-in-hand. As an entrepreneur, you need to claim your CEO role and lead your team. You have the responsibility to motivate and inspire your team, to keep everyone aligned to your vision and core values, to clearly communicate what’s next. This will build momentum that brings growth to the business.

You Don’t Track and Analyze the Right Numbers

Whatever plan you have or actions you take for the business must be measured. If you really want to grow your business, you need to know what’s working and what’s not and that means consistently tracking and analyzing results.

If you’re not making data- driven decisions right now, there are two common reasons why. You either don’t know what number to focus on, or you’re not collecting data in the first place. It’s time that you start tracking the right metrics and analyzing your data to know what to cut and what to double down on.

You’re Not Actually Getting Things Done

At the end of the day, results are dependent on what’s actually getting done in the business. So, if you’re starting new projects and never finishing or you have so many different projects in the works at one time that you’re chipping away at each but not reaping the rewards of any, then something has to change. Simplify your priorities and take massive action until each priority is complete in order to see massive results.

Key Takeaway

Take the time to stop and reflect. What areas of your business are limiting growth in your business? What’s keeping your business stuck?

Your current level of growth isn’t an indicator of what’s possible for you, it’s a reflection of how your business is functioning today. And with greater awareness of what’s holding your business back, you can start optimizing and moving the needle.