Hitting growth targets requires more than ambition, it requires small business owners to actually examine and fix specific weaknesses in their business development approach rather than simply working harder within an unexamined existing process. Surviving and growing through a difficult economic period specifically requires identifying and fixing whatever is quietly limiting growth, not only pushing more effort into an approach that has not been properly reviewed.
A growth strategy that worked well during easier economic conditions may not automatically transfer to a tougher period, which makes periodic honest review a genuine requirement rather than an optional exercise.
Diagnosing the actual constraint matters more than generic effort
Identifying the specific point in a business’s growth process that is actually limiting results, whether that is lead generation, conversion, retention or capacity, focuses effort where it will genuinely produce results, rather than spreading generic additional effort across the entire business hoping something improves.
A downturn is the moment to fix growth bugs, not just to defend
Treating a challenging economic period purely as something to survive defensively, rather than also as a prompt to fix underlying weaknesses in the growth strategy, wastes an opportunity, since a business emerging from a downturn with a genuinely improved growth process is better positioned than one that simply weathered the storm unchanged.
Smart, deliberate execution outperforms simply doing more
Implementing a growth strategy smartly, with clear diagnosis of what actually needs fixing, tends to produce better results than simply increasing the volume of existing marketing or sales activity without first understanding what is genuinely limiting growth.
Preparation during a downturn positions a business for the eventual upturn
A business that uses a difficult period to genuinely fix its growth strategy, rather than only surviving it, is better positioned to capitalise quickly once economic conditions improve, having already resolved the underlying issues that would otherwise limit its ability to capture the eventual upturn.
Owners who want structured help executing a growth plan rather than writing one can start with the support programmes listed on the Department of Small Business Development.
Frequently asked questions
Is working harder within an existing growth strategy usually enough to hit growth targets?
Often not. Actually diagnosing and fixing the specific weaknesses limiting growth, lead generation, conversion, retention, capacity, tends to produce better results than simply pushing more generic effort into an unexamined approach.
Should a difficult economic period be treated purely as something to survive?
Not only. It is also a genuine opportunity to fix underlying weaknesses in a growth strategy, positioning the business better than one that survives the period without addressing what limited its growth in the first place.
Does simply increasing marketing or sales activity volume fix a weak growth strategy?
Generally not as effectively as diagnosing the actual constraint first, since increasing volume without understanding what is genuinely limiting growth tends to produce less improvement than smart, deliberate, targeted execution.
Why does fixing growth strategy issues during a downturn matter for the eventual upturn?
Because a business that has already resolved its underlying growth constraints is better positioned to capitalise quickly once conditions improve, rather than facing the same limiting issues all over again during the recovery.
Does a growth strategy that worked in easier economic conditions automatically work in tougher ones?
Not necessarily. Periodic honest review of whether an existing strategy still fits current conditions is a genuine requirement, not an optional exercise, particularly heading into or through a more difficult economic period.
Originally published in June 2017. Updated September 2026 and rewritten in house voice, dropping the personal byline while keeping the original growth-diagnosis argument intact.
