That’s a question as well as a headline. I’d love to hear, in the comments below, what’s changing for you as your company grows. Here are some things I’ve noticed in my companies and those of my clients.

Even if you’re not a parent, you can imagine that what a toddler needs from Mom or Dad is vastly different from what a teenager needs (I said needs not wants). And that changes again as the child leaves home and starts their adult life. (They do leave home don’t they?)

In a similar way, what a company needs from their CEO changes as the company grows. This is particularly shocking when a company grows out of stage one and into stage two. I say shocking because it often comes a quite a surprise to business owners. If you aren’t prepared that change can be very frustrating.

Don’t let that shock keep your
company small (unless that’s your goal).

Of course the kids are going to grow up no matter what you do. Not so with a company. They can stay in stage one forever. I’ve worked with companies a few years past startup and companies over 50 years old. The changes in the role of CEO follow a similar pattern.

Change in Focus – from product to company

The biggest change is the shift in focus. You focus on building the company not the product. Of course the product still has to be built – just not by you. Your main job is now to build the company.

Changes in Schedule & Activities

If you always do what you’ve always done,
you’ll always get what you’ve always got.

That change in focus results in you doing different things when you show up for work. That change can be stated simply as doing more of some things and less of others. This feels strange at first. But keep it up.

Do More

• More Thinking You can’t shoot from the hip anymore. You need time to think and plan.
• Spend More Time Hiring – this one’s a shocker. But you can’t build an organization without good people and you can’t just go down to the store to find them.
• Spend more time communicating. A leader leads by communication you must constantly share why decisions were made and how people’s actions contribute to the vision.
• Delegate More – delegation is not abdication. It’s a skill you have to learn.
• More Meetings – really! Meetings are a manager’s secret weapon. But most people don’t know how to use it.

Do Less

• Less building product. Teach others how to do it better than you.
• Have a To Don’t List. Actually list the things you won’t do anymore.
• Less Sales work. Develop a team and turn your key customer relationships over to them.

Changes in Thinking

You’ll see money differently. You’ll see money is a tool to get something – not as a resource to hoard. In other words, don’t always be so cheap. I know, being cheap got you where you are. But it won’t get you further down the road. I’m not saying be wasteful. Amazon was famous for using doors on saw horses as desks even after they could afford real desks. But they kept spending on what would enhance the customer’s experience. You’ll have to spend more on some salaries to get good people. You’ll spend more on tools, training, and support to make your people more productive. You’ll spend on consultants and advisors in ways you never did. You’ll learn to see these outlays as investments, not expenses. Then you’ll demand a return on those investments.

You’ll look at problems differently. At stage one, problems are only obstacles to be fixed as soon as possible. Still true. But as you build the company you’ll also see them as learning opportunities. You’ll learn to dig into the root cause and prevent them from happening again – and you’ll teach your people to do that. Bill Gates has said it’s the role of the CEO to find problems when they’re small. The “Toyota Way” (which became Lean Manufacturing) says the same thing. One of their concepts is “No Problems? That’s a Problem!”

You’ll see  yourself as a leader. Your vision for where the company is headed will expand beyond ending the quarter with cash in the bank. You’ll describe that vision in detail and express it to your employees again and again showing how their work helps make that vision a reality.

You’ll think of your company differently. An org chart of a large corporation has boxes with titles in them – not just people’s names. The people will move, inhabiting different boxes as their careers develop. The boxes don’t change much – each is a function that must be performed for the company to operate. In stage one companies, those functions are almost entirely designed around people’s unique mix of skills, strengths and weaknesses. This limits growth because when you need to promote Jennifer, you can’t find someone to perform her functions exactly the way she did. Separating functions from people is one of the key things you’ll learn in my Virtual CEO Boot Camp. And it’s a big difference between stage one and stage two companies.

You’ll seek to turn wisdom and experience into process. And you’ll focus on process not just results. McDonalds hires teenagers, retirees, and people whose first language is not English and still turns out consistent product at every location. Did you know that they don’t allow those employees to determine whether the ketchup goes on the burger before the pickle or the pickle goes first? Why? They’ve determined what they need for a consistent “mouth feel” and they teach their managers this at Hamburger U. Yes it’s a real training location – seven around the world actually. The point is you can’t depend on the heroic effort of individuals to get the job done if you want to scale your company.

Changes in Your Business Model

All of these changes affect your cost structure and hence your business model. The business model is how you make money. As your cost structure changes, you often need to change your price, your product offerings, and your market. I learned this from a conversation with a VP of a web development company with about 100 employees. He told me when they were small they could build a website for $5,000. Now they couldn’t touch one for less than 20 grand. But it turns out, their current customers would be scared to death to have their website done by a company that could be profitable at only $5K. They’d know that they’d be lacking in critical abilities and 24/7 support.

So as you upgrade and expand your organization, you must be aware of how it affects your business model and you must adapt your market and your customer base in sync with your internal growth.

Often this means you’ll need to learn to speak the language of finance, and depend on a CFO who’s expert in that language.

Want to Scale Faster?

I’ve spent 25 years working with business owners helping them scale their organizations. The change is not linear or abrupt – though it can happen quickly. You may be solid stage two in some aspects but still have some lingering bits of stage one holding you back. However there are lessons that can be applied no matter where you are now and wherever you want to be. The key is working on your business not just in it. We’ve all heard that before but most people don’t know how to translate that into action.

That’s where I can help. I work as a coach to individual business owners, and to business organizations both for-profit and non-profit. Reach out if you’d like to see if this is right for you or your organization.