If revenue doubled tomorrow, what would break first?

Question

We're currently operating at about a $1.7M run rate, and one thing I've learned is that growth doesn't solve problems... it exposes them.

Every major growth phase we've gone through revealed a different bottleneck.

At one point it was hiring.
At another it was leadership.
Then communication.
Then training.
Then scheduling.
Then accountability.

If our revenue doubled tomorrow, I already know we'd have things that would break. The question is identifying those weaknesses before growth forces you to deal with them.

When I ask, "If revenue doubled tomorrow, what would break first?" I'm trying to uncover the next bottleneck hiding in the business.

Because if the answer is hiring, you should probably be building a recruiting system now.

If the answer is scheduling, you should be improving operations now.

If the answer is leadership, you should be developing leaders now.

A lot of owners think their biggest challenge is getting more customers. In reality, many businesses hit a ceiling because the systems that got them to their current level aren't strong enough to support the next one.

pestfreecanada · Answer

Great question. Lots to think about here.

I think if my revenue were to double overnight first thing to break would be my knees and my back! I do almost all the work alone or with someone as a helper. I guess that exposes my issue of not having adequate staff and me over shooting what I can handle.

Really great question. It really got me thinking.

tnaceguy · Answer

If revenue double tomorrow the first thing that would break would be my truck of course

But doubling revenue wouldn't mean doubling production and twice as many happy customers I would say the first thing would require trying to find more quality employees to handle the extra business and that is a tall order anymore hard to find someone that wants to work in the trades these days

itsjustme · Answer

What a great question. I have not started my business yet. I'm still trying to get all or most of my ducks in a row. But, if I had to guess, I would say being under staffed. I would hate to lose momentum because I did not have the right team in place to handle it. Hmmm, Now I have a question, could this be why so many companies are posting job openings and don't seem to be hiring? Because they want to have good options on file if they do need to hire, in the future, they will be ready to go.

iamjoeboinkens · Answer

Doubling revenue requires doubling inventory, staff, or materials.

anthonysalazar · Answer

If revenue doubled, that means I'd need more capacity in technicians and probably onboard one office person to assist with follow ups and answering the phone. That would be my biggest bottlenecks.

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If revenue doubled tomorrow, what would break first?

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