Over the past six months or so I’ve talked with more than 150 business owners and CEOs.  We’ve talked about challenges facing the business and opportunities for growth. At some point in the conversation, I almost always ask, “If everything went as well as it could, where would you find yourself in 3-4 years?”

Most of the time I get answers like this,”We will have increased our revenues by x%, increased our profit margins to x%, and moved into new markets.” What I find interesting about this kind of answer is that it doesn’t really answer the question I asked: where would you find yourself.

I get that people who own and run small businesses have a huge part of their identity tied up in the business. That’s a good thing. That’s a big part of what makes many of these businesses successful. It’s certainly a big reason that they work so hard to overcome obstacles.

So I’d expect an answer to center on what happens in the business. But I wonder why people often don’t take the answer a step further: we’d grow by x% and what that would mean to me is . . . .

When businesses grow, the role of the owner/CEO changes. If you double your revenues or hire a bunch of new people or build a new plant, your life as the leader of the business will change. If you’re not ready for the change, if you can’t adapt to growth, you won’t grow.

The next time I ask the question I hope to hear all about ambitious growth plans for the business. I’d like to hear about growth plans for the boss, too. Will you be ready if I ask you?