In the fast-paced world of business, it’s easy to believe that speed is everything. We often hear about businesses scaling quickly, launching product after product, and hustling to outpace the competition. Business owners often think that growing fast will solve their problems, but growth without clear direction can lead to more chaos than progress. This is particularly true for small businesses struggling with messy systems, bandaid fixes, and a lack of long-term strategy.
In reality, when you’re growing a business, direction is more important than speed. Without a solid foundation, you’ll end up with wasted time, missed opportunities, and a business that’s ultimately harder to scale.
Speed without strategy: a recipe for chaos
It’s not uncommon for small business owners to feel like they’re spinning their wheels. They’re dealing with messy, broken systems (if any systems at all) and find themselves constantly putting out fires. What’s driving them is the need to move quickly, to keep up with customer demands, and to maintain a competitive edge. But without a clear direction, this rush can turn to chaos, leading to burnout, poor decision-making, and unsustainable growth.
Many business owners, particularly during peak periods, find themselves overwhelmed by the day-to-day technical tasks. There’s simply no time to think about long-term strategy or to plan effectively. As Simon Sinek famously explains in his book Start with Why, understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing is critical to maintaining focus and direction. But when you’re stuck in the weeds, constantly shifting between “technician” and “manager” mode, it’s hard to step back and assess the big picture.
The consequences of moving too fast without direction
When a business prioritises speed over strategy, several issues tend to arise:
Cash Flow Problems: Without proper planning, businesses often fail to understand their cash flow needs. Growth can strain finances, and without a solid cash flow management system, even a fast-growing business can run into trouble. The company may be bringing in revenue but not managing expenses in a sustainable way.
Lack of Systems: As businesses grow, so do the demands on their operations. If systems aren’t built alongside that growth, the business can become a disorganised mess. Bandaid solutions may work for a while, but they’re not sustainable in the long term. Without structure and frameworks, businesses struggle to scale efficiently.
Take one simple example I recently worked on with a client, the business growth has happened exceptionally quick which meant that the new team members were getting the work done although consistency in document control had not yet been formulated. We realised that this minor lack of systems was creating a significant amount of lost productive time. Sometimes a minor system implementation have a very large impact.
We broke down the numbers to help them see the real cost of not having efficient systems, imagine if 20 people could save. 15min per day looking for documents and information, that’s 15 mins x 5 days per week x 42 weeks a year x 20 people = 1,050 hours per year, multiply by an average rate of $200 per hour, it translates into over $200,000 in opportunity cost. However, the business is still growing, and they soon would have 40 people. Without the right processes in place, that opportunity cost would double, and the inefficiencies would become even more problematic. They knew they had the capacity to grow, but without a plan, they were risking burnout, financial strain, and team dissatisfaction.
Employee burnout and lack of accountability: When businesses focus on speed, employees often feel like they’re running a marathon at a sprint pace. Without clear direction and accountability, this can lead to burnout, decreased productivity, and high turnover. Teams need to know where the business is headed and feel a sense of purpose to stay motivated.
Missed opportunities for long-term growth: Businesses that grow too fast without a strategy may hit short-term goals but miss out on bigger, long-term opportunities. By focusing only on immediate gains, they lose sight of potential future success that comes from a more deliberate approach.
The right way to grow: building systems and direction first
The solution is simple but powerful: build systems before scaling. Without systems in place, you will continue to grow in a chaotic, unsustainable way. Speed without strategy leads to inefficiencies, wasted opportunities, and burnout. Direction, on the other hand, ensures that every step you take is a step towards long-term success.
Here’s how you can apply the same principles to your business:
Set clear goals and break them down:
Ask yourself, what do you want to achieve? Define your long-term vision and break it down into smaller, actionable steps. For example, our physio client knew they wanted to expand into OT but needed to understand how many new clients the team would need to support that growth.
Analyse your resources:
You might feel like you have the capacity, but without data, you’re flying blind. Use timesheets, task tracking, and project management tools to understand how your team is really spending their time. Don’t guess analyse. As our client learned, this is essential for figuring out whether you need more staff or can optimize the ones you have.
Build systems for scalability:
As businesses grow, systems become essential. Whether it’s time-tracking, project management, or accounting, the right tools allow you to manage growth without things falling apart. In our client’s case, implementing time-tracking was a game-changer in understanding capacity and resource management.
Understand cash flow:
Growth costs money, and not knowing your cash flow can be disastrous. You need to understand how much money is coming in, where it’s going, and what you need to sustain future growth. Like the opportunity cost of those wasted minutes, the financial impact of inefficiencies adds up over time.
Stay patient and accountable:
Growth takes time, and building the right systems doesn’t happen overnight. Stay patient, but hold yourself and your team accountable through regular check-ins and progress updates. Set milestones, review your progress, and adjust your plan as needed.
Moving with purpose:
It’s tempting to try and grow as fast as possible. But without direction and structure, that speed can lead to chaos. Our client learned that by building systems first, they could set their business up for long-term success rather than short-term growth spurts. The lesson? Direction is always more important than speed.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure of how to scale, take a step back. Define your goals, analyse your resources, and put the right processes in place. With a solid foundation, you’ll not only grow faster but also smarter. After all, real growth is about more than just speed it’s about moving forward with purpose.
