5 Questions a Growth-Focused CEO Should Ask

Growth is vital for all types of modern businesses. But how do growth-focused CEOs and other business leaders identify what strategies are necessary for their business so they can fuel growth and scale? It all starts with asking the right questions.

Asking the right questions is essential, regardless of whether it is for recruitment, marketing, or business strategy purposes. But as a CEO, it can be challenging to identify practical questions that will lead you towards the desired solution.

With the right questions, it’s easy to keep your business growing successfully. Here are five questions we aim to help a growth-focused CEO answer to better position themselves for growth and scale.

1. What’s working and what’s not?

You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know what it is.

That’s why growth-focused CEOs should prioritize tracking what’s working and what’s not. You can spend hours on end running after this or that idea, but if you never take the time to step back and see your progress, you’ll never know whether your strategy is working.

Tracking your successes and failures will help you determine which areas of your business need improvement. When growth-focused CEOs and other business leaders identify what their team is doing well, it can be a good focus point to invest in to drive more positive outcomes.

2. What are you trying to measure?

It may seem simple, but figuring out why you’re measuring something and what that information tells you is paramount to growth. Whether in your sales or marketing department or back office, it’s essential to have key performance indicators (KPIs) that tell you everything you need to know about that business unit’s performance.

For example, if you’re running a brick-and-mortar store, you may want to track foot traffic as a KPI. It could highlight how many customers visit your store, how long they’re spending time shopping, and even areas of your store where they’re spending the most time. This type of relevant information can help you make decisions about marketing, product placement, and store layout.

Defining your key performance indicators (KPIs) is the first step in this process, and you need to make sure you’re constantly revisiting them to guarantee they still accurately reflect your goals. Every business is different, meaning that each company’s KPIs are different. Companies like BrainSell can help you identify the best KPIs to measure your business growth.

3. What’s the trend?

Figuring out where your industry is going will help you stay ahead of the curve.

It’s important to be aware of the changes in your industry so that you can maintain a competitive edge. Technology is constantly evolving, so you need to be prepared for innovations impacting your business. It would be best if you also kept an eye on consumer trends, so you can create products or services that appeal to your target market.

Stay informed about new technologies, changes in customer behavior, and other factors that could impact your growth.

4. How can you replicate your successes?

Not every growth strategy will work in every situation, but by understanding what has worked in the past, you can start from a place of strength.

Try to identify the factors that led to success and see if you can replicate them in other areas of your business. For example, suppose you see success in your customer support department with how they engage customers. In that case, there may be lessons to learn that can be incorporated and replicated in other departments like sales and marketing.

You can also take it one step further and replicate other companies’ success within your business. Suppose you are seeing a company innovate the way they go to market. In that case, it may be worth considering experimenting with that strategy to see if it resonates with your target audience.

5. Are you being realistic?

No business can grow at an unsustainable rate forever, and it’s essential to be mindful of the limits of your growth. If you’re not careful, you can quickly outgrow your infrastructure and find yourself in a difficult situation.

A great example of this is the online food delivery service DoorDash. In just four years, DoorDash grew from a small startup to a company delivering millions of meals each month. However, this growth came at a cost; its infrastructure could not keep up, and it began to experience significant outages. As a result, DoorDash had to lay off workers and pull back on its expansion plans.

It’s important to remember that your business is not immune to the laws of physics. You can’t grow at an infinite rate; there are limits to how much you can expand and how fast you can grow.

Striving for realism will help you stay on track while still pushing yourself to achieve more.

Not Sure Where to Start? Connect With BrainSell to Learn How to Promote Growth and Scale

Keep these questions in mind as you work to grow your business. With proper planning and execution, you can ensure sustainable and profitable growth for years to come.

If you’re not sure where to start, or if you need help scaling your business, BrainSell can assist. We have a team of experts who can help promote growth and achieve your goals. Contact us today to learn more.