????大多數公司都無法實現成長——其中很大一部分一直都是只有一、兩個人的小作坊。我希望能有更多的公司實現發展的潛能。即使命中注定成不了下一個谷歌（Google）、亞馬遜（Amazon）或者Facebook，一家公司還是可以在中型企業領域實現蓬勃發展。要想擴大業務規模，你就得突破下列三重障礙。

????1. CEO沒有放權的能力。近期數據顯示，在所有公司中，收入突破100萬美元的僅占5%；在這5%的公司中，收入達到1000萬美元的只有八分之一，主要原因就在于此。企業主要么認為自己是唯一能勝任領導工作的人，要么曾經交出過管理權，但因為遇人不淑而蒙受損失，繼而不再相信任何人。

????掃除這個障礙的唯一辦法就是找到工作能力更強而且不需要管理的人。你聘請的那些人有時會把事情搞糟嗎？會，但你必須邁過這道坎。如果能忍受他們在提速過程中帶來的短期挑戰，你的工作就會變得輕松很多，你的公司也就能接下更大的項目與合同。

????2. 變得吝嗇。公司在起步階段不怎么賺錢，你必須稍微吝嗇一些。但到了某個節點，你必須為公司投資，否則它就不會增長。我并不是要你一味地花錢，但如果想擴大規模，就得升級公司的某些系統，可能是會計軟件、電話，也可能是IT基礎設施。不能總在車庫里辦公。

????也許，你最重要的任務就是找到一位很出色的會計師或者首席財務官。大多數創業者都認為他們應該始終像起步階段那樣，把資金用于生產或銷售。但隨著公司規模的擴大，要做出正確的決策，你就需要詳細地了解哪些業務賺錢，哪些不賺錢。資產負債表上的數據會掩蓋大量問題。一名好的會計師卻能幫你計算出每位客戶、每名銷售人員和每個地區分別為你帶來了多少利潤。這樣，如果你的公司處境糟糕，你就會知道要解決哪些問題，從而避免局勢進一步惡化。聘請能干的會計師或者首席財務官的確要花一筆錢，但能讓你實現長期盈利。

????3. 不按市場客觀變化進行調整。如果行事妥帖而且你的公司開始增長，你就會發現競爭變得更加激烈。山寨產品會突然出現。大公司會覺得你“圖謀不軌”，他們的季度業績受到影響時會對你產生不滿，隨后就會想辦法整垮你，這樣你就無法再繼續奪取他們的市場份額。同時，隨著和你的業務往來增多，客戶會希望你在價格上做出讓步。

????在這個階段，首席執行官很容易被日常經營事務所淹沒。但恰恰就是在這個時候，你需要把更多的注意力轉向與市場有關的活動，同時把內部事務交給一個強有力的團隊來處理。作為CEO，你的工作是拿出正確的策略來保持增長，同時按照市場情況的變化對增長策略加以調整。只有愿意改變思路，你的公司才有能力實現增長。（財富中文網）

????譯者：Charlie???

????Most businesses fail to grow -- with a vast majority remaining tiny, one- or two-person shops. I'd like to see more reach their potential. Even if a business isn't destined to be the next Google, Amazon, or Facebook, it can still become a thriving, mid-market company. Here are three barriers to growth you need to blast through if you want your business to scale up.

????1. The inability of the CEO to let go. This is the primary reason that a paltry 5% of businesses break the $1 million revenue mark and only about one in eight of those reach $10 million, according to recent data. Either the owner thinks he's the only person capable of getting things done or tried to delegate once but got burned by a bad hire and can't trust anyone again.

????The only way to get through this is to find people who can do things better than you and who don't need to be managed. Will the folks you hire mess up sometimes? Yes, but you've got to push past that. If you suffer the short-term challenges of bringing someone up to speed, your life will get a lot easier and your company will be able to tackle bigger projects and contracts.

????2. Being a cheapskate. In the startup phase, when you're not making much money, you've got to be a bit of skinflint, but there comes a point where you have to invest in your business or it won't grow. I'm not suggesting that you spend yourself silly, but if you want to grow, you're going to have to upgrade some of your systems, whether that means your accounting software, phones, or IT infrastructure. You'll need better office space than your garage.

????Probably the most important step you can take is to find a great accountant or CFO. Most entrepreneurs think they should spend money on making or selling stuff, like they did in the startup phase. However, as your business grows, you need detailed data about where you're making money -- or not -- to make the right decisions. The figures on your balance sheet can hide a multitude of problems. A good accountant will help you figure out how much money you're bringing in by customer, by sales person, and by location. That way, if your company is a wreck, you'll know where to fix things -- so you don't build an even bigger mess. Hiring a great accountant or CFO will cost you, but it will help you make money in the long run.

????3. Not adjusting to unforgiving market dynamics. If you're doing things right and your business starts to grow, you're going to find yourself with more competition. Copycats will come out of the woodwork. The big guys will realize you're on to something, get angry when you ruin their quarter, and try to knock you down so you don't steal any more market share. Meanwhile, as your customers do more business with you, they're going to want price concessions.

????It's easy at this stage to get sucked into day-to-day operations, but this is precisely when you need to start paying more attention to market-facing activities and delegate internal matters to a strong team. Your job as CEO is coming up with the right strategy to keep growing and to adapt it to changing market conditions. It's only when you are willing to adjust your mindset that your company will be able to grow.