When we read about business growth in the top business
periodicals, they always refer to the multi-national
corporations. I?m not a large corporation. I?m not even
incorporated.

But for the purpose of this discussion, think of your business
as a corporation. You hold the office of president of this
corporation, and you're responsible for its success or failure.
You and the members of your team are stockholders in your
corporation, and it's your responsibility to see that the value
of the stock increases in the years ahead.

If your company is growing, it will have a tendency to continue
to grow because you're doing things right. Conversely, a company
that is going backwards or shrinking has a tendency to continue
to go backwards or shrink until acted upon by an outside force.
All responsible company officers know that unless the company is
growing, it's showing the first signs of death. As the head of
your corporation (be it 1, 5 or 50 people), you must realize
that this applies to you as well.

However, because you are also a person, you have a tremendous
advantage over even the largest corporation. Think of any large
multi-national corporation. Can it double its production in a
single day? Of course not. Can it double its sales in a single
day? Of course not. It might like to, but its growth must be
gradual and steady because of the complexities of such a large
organization. Yet a person can double, triple, quadruple
his/her effectiveness in a month or less. Small businesses have
the flexibility, control and responsiveness which corporate
giants lack.

Can you grow and improve as a person at least 10% a year? Of
course you can. In fact, experts estimate a person can increase
his or her effectiveness anywhere from 50% to 100% and more
within 30 days. Now apply that to your entire business.

Some examples:

I?ve increased readership of this newsletter 300% in the last
60 days.

In his Freshman year in college my nephew got a 2.1GPA first
semester; but got motivated to study, applied himself, and
delivered a 3.6 GPA for second semester.

I remember the days in sales when my datebook looked like pure
snow (no appointments). Then I accepted a challenge to have 10
appointments on the books every week (most of my peers averaged
3-5 appointments). My previous year?s sales became my monthly
sales.

History is filled with people who exceeded their previous
performance to an almost unbelievable extent (artists,
athletes, musicians, orators, military and political leaders,
not to mention the corporate rags to riches stories).

Think about what that means. If you waste even an hour of
productive time every work day, it adds up to 250 hours a year.
If you had an employee who wasted that much time, would you keep
him on the payroll or fire him?

What is your time worth per hour? Multiply this by 250 and you
can see what you're throwing away. The effect is compounded
when you tally the cost for each member of your team. Whether
your business pays for this wasted hour or not, is unimportant.
Rather, what can you do now to improve the effectiveness of
every member of your team?

Here?s the challenge from Earl Nightengale:

"How much are you worth right now, today, as a corporation?
What's your value today, to yourself, your family, your
company? I f you were an outside investor, a stranger, would
you invest in this corporation? What attention are you giving
to the growth of your corporation?"


About The Author: Kerri Salls, MBA runs a virtual business
school to train, consult and coach small business CEO's and
entrepreneurs in 10 key strategies to make more profit in less
time. Learn more at
http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/products.html or
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http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/newsletter.shtml