If you are reading this, we are guessing you have made it through the first two stages of growth for a field service company. Some of you are more unscathed than others, but you made it! This next post will talk about Stage 3: “No Man’s Land” (Revenue of $600,000 - $1,200,000).
In this stage, you hit a wall.
You, as the owner, can no longer handle every part of the business. You have grown, which is awesome //Insert pat on the back here/, but you also are coming to the realization that you are not making as much money as you were when you were smaller.
Ruth King calls this stage “No Man’s Land.” She says, “This is where the overhead is necessary to support the people operating the business but the overhead really can’t be justified because it puts a large drain on profits.”
This is also the point where you as the owner must change your mindset. You have to use both your hands and your head to make a profit.
You as an owner have three options:
- Grow - Growing beyond this revenue level will allow you to continue the growth of your company.
- Shrink - Here, you decide to go back to your smaller settings (working for wages, running the business from your home, etc.).
- Sell - At this point, the owner decides they cannot balance all of the hats they need to wear to be successful and they sell the business. Most prefer to do the technical part of the business and not be the manager.
There is no wrong choice when it comes to this stage. You know your capabilities as an owner and manager, and in the end will know what is best for the company. Sometimes that means pushing forward, other times it means stepping back and focusing on doing the work you love instead of owning the work you love. Whatever choice you make, we wish you the best of luck!
If you are going to grow or sell, you need to get organized and use a better system. You need to be ready to handle the growth, or you need to prove the business can survive without your personality behind it. Maybe you should consider some field service management software? //wink/