Business and Personal Growth

by Friday Ojeaburu | Jan 25, 2023 | Business Growth, Careers, Personal Growth, Uncategorized

This article covers business and personal growth, connected due to the author’s strong interest in both concepts. Business growth is when a business reaches the level of expansion and pursues additional options to earn more profit. It is achievable when business owners and environmental factors determine what happens to a firm’s success.

In addition, businesses experience growth when there is no agent and the principal issues. The industry is expected to grow when its customer base is expanded, revenue increases due to several business models. Also, strategies employed or when different products are produced after researching the market to know the need of consumers.

Personal growth involves both comprehending and pushing oneself to reach their full potential. It can encompass adopting new habits, hobbies, skills, and approaches to accomplish one’s objectives.. It can also mean continually examining who you are becoming and your plans to attain that level.

Growth is not just about gaining market share but also involves engaging in social activities. This means a surviving company’s success relies on how well it serves its wider stakeholders and increases social welfare (Ward, 2020).

Numerous studies have explored business creation, operation, and management (Santamaria, 2018; Birley & Westhead, 1993; Rosa, 1998; Iacobucci & Rosa, 2010). However, this book has identified an F-Ojes Model consisting of three main business and personal growth pillars.

Component of this model tested

Successful businessmen and women have knowingly or unknowingly tested and applied the components of this business and personal model. It has helped them achieve success and expand their businesses.

Amancio Ortega created the Inditex Fashion Group and Zara chain store to fulfil his business and personal ambitions. He implemented this strategy by reinvesting billions of dollars in dividends into real estate and further expanding his business. As a result, both he and his company have thrived, with Zara having branches and offices worldwide. He was even once the wealthiest man in Spain.

Ortega’s leadership style involves actively listening to employees and clients and recognizing them as essential members of his business network. He prioritizes their input and ideas to ensure the business’s success. Ortega kept manufacturing and pricing tasks in-house to prioritise the business’s best interests.

As he listened to employees’ suggestions, he was able to design unique brands. It has helped him integrate their opinions and views into the organization’s success. A network can do this for someone who receives vital information from the immediate environment.

Several scholars have investigated different models for business growth. Still, this book looked at the model by Churchill and Lewis (1987), which is relevant to small and growing businesses as stated in the five stages of company development. According to Lewis and his friend.

The stages are:

Existence

This is related to garnering customers and delivering product or service.

Survival

This means companies have demonstrated that they are workable business entities, with a big question as to whether there is sufficient money for the firm to break even and remain in business.

Success

This has to do with the decision challenges encountered by owners of the business as to whether to exploit the firm’s achievement and expand or keep the firm stable and profitable, providing a base for alternative owner activities.

Take -Off

It means how to make the firm proliferate and finance its growth..

Resource Maturity,

With its size and management advantages, the company can become a strong market force if it keeps its entrepreneurial spirit.

According to Lewis, the model can be helpful for owners during the initial stages of their businesses. As a valuable tool for business owners, the model facilitates task allocation and enables the adjustment of management positions. It also proves beneficial for accountants and consultants in identifying issues and offering solutions to smaller enterprises.

A business or individual who desires business and personal growth should apply the three pillars that make men great. Expanding customer base, increasing revenue, producing more, and going global can help achieve goals.

In line with Premaratne, the success of business enterprises and individuals depends on personal networks (Premaratne, 2001). Still, this book discusses identity and knowledge about current information technology and the knowledge-based economy.

In this book, the author has introduced the F-Ojes Model, which has three main pillars. The first pillar is IDENTITY; the second is represented by the letter K, which stands for KNOWLEDGE. Lastly, the third and final pillar is represented by the letter N, which denotes NETWORK.

The author has listed certain pillars that resemble self-determination assumptions. These pillars relate to the requirements that individuals need to fulfil before achieving psychological growth. Find them below:

Autonomy

This is when the expectation is that individuals control their actions and objectives and feel a sense of ownership.

Competence

This is where the requirement is for people to gain mastery of tasks and learn diverse skills. Believing in your skills increases the likelihood of taking action towards achieving your goals.

Connection

This is where the requirement is for people to relate to other people across the network. When people experience a sense of belonging and attachment to others, they can see self-determination to achieve things.

Today, one cannot do without any of these technology like IoT, Cloud computing, Drone technology and Artificial Intelligent. If combine this technology with F-Ojes Model, it will surely position businesses and individuals.

References

Birley, S. and Westhead, P. (1993). A comparison of new businesses established by “novice” and “habitual” founders in Great Britain. International Small Business Journal, 12, 38-60.

Churchill and Lewis (1987). The Five Stages of Business Growth. Harvard Business Review, 3(3). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228315536TheFiveStages_ ofSmallBusinessGrowth (Accessed 22 October 2022).

Iacobucci, D. and Rosa, P. (2010). The Growth of business groups by habitual entrepreneurs: The Role of Entrepreneurial Teams. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 34,351-373.

Premaratne, S.P.,(2001). Networks, resources, and small business growth: The experience in Sri Lanka. Journal of small business management, 39(4), pp.363-371.

Rosa, P. (1998) Entrepreneurial processes of business cluster formation and growth by “habitual” entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 22, 43–62.

Santamaria, S. (2018). Company growth or business growth? Business group formation as an entrepreneurial growth strategy. https://business.uc3m.es /seminarios/ filesem1542013693.pdf (Accessed 2^nd October 2022).

Ward, A.M (2020). Finance: Theory and Practice, Chartered Accountants Ireland