Decision is the spark that ignites action.  Until a decision is made nothing happens. -Wilfred A. Peterson

"Gazelles" - growth firms - are the job generators that will do the most to get our national economies back on track in 2009 and beyond. And the leaders of these growth firms must do their job and continue to grow in turbulent times. What is the key to sustained growth?  Decisions! 

Decisions Equal Success

Decisions equal success - and there are four decisions, in growing your business, that you must get right or risk leaving significant revenues, profits, and time on the table. These four decisions: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash.

Even though most growth firms face continual challenges in all four areas, at any one time the challenges in one of these areas overshadows the rest. Therefore, your first decision is to choose which one of the four to focus on next.

Over the last six months, Verne Harnish and the Gazelles organization surveyed 1300 executives of growth firms across five major regions of the world to see which one of the four decisions they most needed to focus on next. What they found were patterns aligned with the opportunities and challenges of the region.

Which of the four will be your primary focus?

In comparing North America with Australia, China, Dubai, and India there was a distinct difference in focus between developed and developing regions. Clearly the firms in the developed nations were most focused on the need to accelerate top line growth and thus chose strategy almost two to one over people issues. In turn, the firms in the developing nations drastically need qualified people and management talent to keep up with the growth they've been experiencing.

What was consistent among a third of the firms across all regions was a need to focus on execution. Many growth firms have a reasonably focused strategy and dedicated people. However, profitability isn't where it needs to be and the people are working long hours to make up for the sloppy and non-existent processes indicative of small to mid-market companies.

Interestingly, cash, though not a dominant issue within any of the regions, was chosen by twice as many firms in China over the rest of the regions - 10% vs. 5% of respondents. It was more an issue of needing additional cash to take advantage of the myriad of opportunities Chinese firms are finding to grow and make acquisitions.

Scramjet Strategies can help you get these four decisions right as you take advantage of this economic downturn to grab market share and shore up your market dominance.

You are only one choice away from changing your life...do you have the courage to make it? If you are ready to move your business to the next level and achieve sustainable growth, contact David Carter at Scramjet Strategies today for a FREE, NO OBLIGATION consultation session.