公司发展必须突破3大障碍

    大多数公司都无法实现成长——其中很大一部分一直都是只有一、两个人的小作坊。我希望能有更多的公司实现发展的潜能。即使命中注定成不了下一个谷歌（Google）、亚马逊（Amazon）或者Facebook，一家公司还是可以在中型企业领域实现蓬勃发展。要想扩大业务规模，你就得突破下列三重障碍。

    1. CEO没有放权的能力。近期数据显示，在所有公司中，收入突破100万美元的仅占5%；在这5%的公司中，收入达到1000万美元的只有八分之一，主要原因就在于此。企业主要么认为自己是唯一能胜任领导工作的人，要么曾经交出过管理权，但因为遇人不淑而蒙受损失，继而不再相信任何人。

    扫除这个障碍的唯一办法就是找到工作能力更强而且不需要管理的人。你聘请的那些人有时会把事情搞糟吗？会，但你必须迈过这道坎。如果能忍受他们在提速过程中带来的短期挑战，你的工作就会变得轻松很多，你的公司也就能接下更大的项目与合同。

    2. 变得吝啬。公司在起步阶段不怎么赚钱，你必须稍微吝啬一些。但到了某个节点，你必须为公司投资，否则它就不会增长。我并不是要你一味地花钱，但如果想扩大规模，就得升级公司的某些系统，可能是会计软件、电话，也可能是IT基础设施。不能总在车库里办公。

    也许，你最重要的任务就是找到一位很出色的会计师或者首席财务官。大多数创业者都认为他们应该始终像起步阶段那样，把资金用于生产或销售。但随着公司规模的扩大，要做出正确的决策，你就需要详细地了解哪些业务赚钱，哪些不赚钱。资产负债表上的数据会掩盖大量问题。一名好的会计师却能帮你计算出每位客户、每名销售人员和每个地区分别为你带来了多少利润。这样，如果你的公司处境糟糕，你就会知道要解决哪些问题，从而避免局势进一步恶化。聘请能干的会计师或者首席财务官的确要花一笔钱，但能让你实现长期盈利。

    3. 不按市场客观变化进行调整。如果行事妥帖而且你的公司开始增长，你就会发现竞争变得更加激烈。山寨产品会突然出现。大公司会觉得你“图谋不轨”，他们的季度业绩受到影响时会对你产生不满，随后就会想办法整垮你，这样你就无法再继续夺取他们的市场份额。同时，随着和你的业务往来增多，客户会希望你在价格上做出让步。

    在这个阶段，首席执行官很容易被日常经营事务所淹没。但恰恰就是在这个时候，你需要把更多的注意力转向与市场有关的活动，同时把内部事务交给一个强有力的团队来处理。作为CEO，你的工作是拿出正确的策略来保持增长，同时按照市场情况的变化对增长策略加以调整。只有愿意改变思路，你的公司才有能力实现增长。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie   

    Most businesses fail to grow -- with a vast majority remaining tiny, one- or two-person shops. I'd like to see more reach their potential. Even if a business isn't destined to be the next Google, Amazon, or Facebook, it can still become a thriving, mid-market company. Here are three barriers to growth you need to blast through if you want your business to scale up.

    1. The inability of the CEO to let go. This is the primary reason that a paltry 5% of businesses break the $1 million revenue mark and only about one in eight of those reach $10 million, according to recent data. Either the owner thinks he's the only person capable of getting things done or tried to delegate once but got burned by a bad hire and can't trust anyone again.

    The only way to get through this is to find people who can do things better than you and who don't need to be managed. Will the folks you hire mess up sometimes? Yes, but you've got to push past that. If you suffer the short-term challenges of bringing someone up to speed, your life will get a lot easier and your company will be able to tackle bigger projects and contracts.

    2. Being a cheapskate. In the startup phase, when you're not making much money, you've got to be a bit of skinflint, but there comes a point where you have to invest in your business or it won't grow. I'm not suggesting that you spend yourself silly, but if you want to grow, you're going to have to upgrade some of your systems, whether that means your accounting software, phones, or IT infrastructure. You'll need better office space than your garage.

    Probably the most important step you can take is to find a great accountant or CFO. Most entrepreneurs think they should spend money on making or selling stuff, like they did in the startup phase. However, as your business grows, you need detailed data about where you're making money -- or not -- to make the right decisions. The figures on your balance sheet can hide a multitude of problems. A good accountant will help you figure out how much money you're bringing in by customer, by sales person, and by location. That way, if your company is a wreck, you'll know where to fix things -- so you don't build an even bigger mess. Hiring a great accountant or CFO will cost you, but it will help you make money in the long run.

    3. Not adjusting to unforgiving market dynamics. If you're doing things right and your business starts to grow, you're going to find yourself with more competition. Copycats will come out of the woodwork. The big guys will realize you're on to something, get angry when you ruin their quarter, and try to knock you down so you don't steal any more market share. Meanwhile, as your customers do more business with you, they're going to want price concessions.

    It's easy at this stage to get sucked into day-to-day operations, but this is precisely when you need to start paying more attention to market-facing activities and delegate internal matters to a strong team. Your job as CEO is coming up with the right strategy to keep growing and to adapt it to changing market conditions. It's only when you are willing to adjust your mindset that your company will be able to grow.