Small Business Growth: Evaluating the Difference Between Organic and Accelerated Development Approaches.

Small business growth is a topic on the minds of just about every small business owner in America. After all, the more you grow, the more money you make and success you enjoy, right?

We all know that isn’t always the case. But the American dream is still ingrained in each of entrepreneurial hearts: start our own company, grow it and make it successful, enjoy the freedom that wealth and prestige bring.

For many small business owners, the American dream can only be achieved through a bootstrapped approach. Outside funding just isn’t an option. If this is your mindset, we completely understand.

But we also think you’d be doing yourself and your business a disservice if you didn’t at least consider the pros and cons of both organic and accelerated small business growth plans.

So that’s the topic we’ll tackle in the blog post. We’ll take an in-depth look at organic versus accelerated growth so that you can make the right decision for your business. Let’s dive in!

Organic Growth

For many business owners, organic growth is the preferred approach. And, when this method is successful, it makes for a great, romantic almost, story. You know, “business owner bootstraps his way to incredible success!” It’s front page worthy.

In many cases, the organic route is also a safer path to small business growth. Why? When you take money from a bank, a private lending company — even your parents of best friend — you’ve accrued debt.

If your business fails or grows at a slower pace than expected, you may feel the financial squeeze when paying back lenders. Organic growth allows you to avoid these struggles. But it comes with many of its own challenges.

First, achieving small business growth without outside capital is generally much more difficult and usually takes much, much longer. And that makes sense.

If you attempt to fund your entire operation yourself, there won’t be as much capital to invest in a larger employee base, better materials, more marketing initiatives — all the things that allow a company to scale quickly and ease the burden of small business owners.

The organic growth approach must also face a steep uphill climb when differentiating itself from the rest of the market and competing with large corporations. These are both problems that an influx of cash can help alleviate.

It’s not impossible to succeed without capital. The organic growth approach has and will continue, to work for numerous business owners every year. But in general, those who choose this path must either have a completely unique product or a bulletproof business strategy.

Accelerated Growth

What about the accelerated approach to small business growth? This route means accepting capital from an outside party and could include receiving a loan or line of credit from a big bank, entering into an agreement with a private lender, or allowing friends and family to help fund your business venture.

This path has its merits as well. First, while some small business owners relish their feelings of pride knowing they built (or are building) a company completely on their own, others would happily exchange those emotions to experience the thrill of growing quickly.

Accelerated growth is exciting!

Money can open doors that were previously closed to your business. And these doors can often lead to wonderful opportunities and benefits. A larger customer base, increased revenue, the ability to expand and release new products, the option to hire more and

better employees… All in a shorter amount of time.

But accelerated small business growth isn’t without its own challenges. Namely, risk. As we mentioned previously, when your business accepts money, it becomes indebted to a different business or person.

Should your business fail or fail to progress as quickly as predicted, problems may ensue. You also must deal with the reality of “partners” in your business.

You may not be able to make the decision completely on your own anymore. You may have to share a cut of the profits. The nature of your agreement will determine what freedoms you no longer have, but for some business owners, this is a tough pill to swallow.

For others, the benefits of receiving capital — the accelerated growth, increased revenue, more products and employees — are more than worth the challenges that face a funded business. Which leads us to a question: which path is right for you and your business? Let’s discuss that now.

Your Path Is Your Choice

Ultimately, only you, the founder and operator of your company, can make the right choice when deciding between organic and accelerated small business growth approaches. Both have their benefits and challenges. The path you choose will depend on your personal goals and life position.

Here’s what we recommend:

If you take great pride in the fact that your company is 100% bootstrapped, sleep better at night knowing you aren’t indebted to any other person or institution, and don’t mind a slower, harder climb to business success; the organic path may be perfect for you.

Organic growth may also be the preferred method if you sell a truly unique product or have a savant level understanding of business strategy.

Alternatively, those embarking on the accelerated growth path often experience success quicker and enjoy the thrill of owning a fast-moving company. Does that sound like something you want?

Accelerated small business growth might also be right for you if you don’t shy away from calculated risks and can look past the temporary restraints on freedom that debt may force on you.

Ultimately, the choice is up to you.

Wrapping Up

Choosing between an organic and accelerated small business growth approach is an important decision. One that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We encourage you to carefully consider the points we made in this post and choose your path with confidence.

If you decide that you’re ready to accelerate the growth of your business, we’d love to talk to you. At Cast Capital, we have a long history of helping business owners reach their goals quickly and achieve their version of the American dream.

Apply for funding today and one of our certified financial experts will begin developing a lending plan that works for our company. Whether you need a small business loan, a new line of credit, a business advance, or something else entirely; we’re ready to accommodate.