George’s business has three stores.  The oldest one makes money but is still a bit too dependent on one key salesperson.  The second one hasn’t hit its sales or profit goals in a long while. And the third, a relatively new location, seems like it has great potential but hasn’t yet reached the inflection point.

If George has a survival mentality, he will close the second store, try to relocate one or two sales people back to the first store and give the salespeople in the newest store a deadline for hitting their goals.   George and a very small business might survive, but will he have something of value to sell when he wants to retire?  Will he be able to attract experienced sales people? Will his business deserve exciting marketing campaigns? Could he attract the best vendors and utilize premium pricing? Would the key salesperson in the oldest store continue to produce?

A thrival mentality asks different questions. Does the key salesperson represent the old way of doing business and should the company actually focus more on the newer sales people? Should something like incentives or a marketing campaign be added to the third store to lift it more quickly over breakeven? Is there an exciting theme or approach that could differentiate George’s business from competitors? If so, should George be looking for additional locations or considering franchising his business?

Thriving during uncertain economies involves thinking much bigger than your company is today. It actually requires bolder marketing messages because so many people are so preoccupied and distracted they will not see or hear your message right away. Growth during recessions is often easier when people like franchisees or investors share the risk.

If things don’t work out for “Survival George,” he will be on his own. If things start to go badly for “Thrival George,” bankers, franchisees, employees, vendors, and even local economic development agencies will be invested in the company and care about its future.

Aldonna R. Ambler, CMC, CSP has earned the right to be called THE GROWTH STRATEGIST™. She has won over two dozen national and statewide “entrepreneur of the year” awards for the resilient growth of her international businesses across four recessions.  Her midsized BtoB service, technology, and distribution clients get on–and then stay on–the published lists of the fastest growing privately held companies. All of her own service businesses (strategic planning, executive advisory, growth financing, radio show, speaking, search) help privately held midsized companies achieve accelerated growth with sustained profitability™. Ambler is in her 7^th year hosting a weekly peer-to-peer-to-peer on line program at www.Business.VoiceAmerica.com and www.growthstrategistshow.com that features interviews with CEOs/Presidents of midsized companies (typically between $20 and 200 Mil/yr) sharing success tips about the growth strategy-of-the-week. Family owned businesses are being emphasized in 2011. Ambler is in the process of launching her 8^th enterprise. She can be reached toll free at 1-888-Aldonna or at Aldonna@AMBLER.com.