My boss doesn't want to keep growing the company

[zelon88]

So I recently had a meeting with my boss to discuss my performance and a self-evaluation form I filled out a while back. In the self evaluation form I said that a personal goal of mine is to contribute to growing the company several times larger than it currently is (we just doubled in size over 5 years, so it's doable). I listed some of the ways I would do this. I was not shy in saying that my reasoning for growing the company was to open new doors for me (think Department Head).

He read this section of my self-eval out loud, and then said "I don't want to break your heart, but doubling, tripling, quadrupling the company isn't a goal for us. We would lose a lot of the benefits we currently enjoy as a small business." I was shocked, disheartened, and now I feel like I'm working a dead-end job. Basically, his mortgage and 4 wheelers are paid off so we must be big enough.

I've designed and built so much for this company thinking the growth would continue, but this is all it's ever going to be. Has anyone got any pointers on how to navigate this situation? I don't even know why I'm posting, just really disenfranchised right now and second guessing my career choices.

[mrlala]

Your boss sounds like he has excellent points. I'm not sure I understand yours?

You mentioned nothing (here) about "why" the company needs to grow other than you seem to think you will benefit financially from it. Is that the right move for the company? It sounds like you are just trying to move toward unsustainable growth for a short-term payout. Your boss appears to be looking long term and doesn't think that's the right move.

Did you propose any real ways to make the company more money, such as a new product you could design and be an integral part to get a higher salary / bonus from that? It sounds like you just went in there and said "if we market to X more people and triple the size of our company we could make even more money!" Even though you are completely disregarding the difficulties associated with growing a company so fast... all the overhead, fixed costs, and then one bad quarter/year all the sudden you have to drop 50% of your staff etc.

[zelon88]

> Did you propose any real ways to make the company more money,

I did. Specifically by going to confs and trade shows and networking with potential customers and/or suppliers. We don't currently do ANY of that. We have a couple cash-cow customers that we milk for most of our revenue. We do not have our eggs in very many baskets.

> Even though you are completely disregarding the difficulties associated with growing a company so fast...

I was brought in during a doubling where the company moved from one state to another. Growing this company and increasing it's capacity was specifically why I was hired. That focus has shifted and I'm concerned about the weaning focus on growth from management.

Like I said, a few people here got very rich very quickly and I think it's taken their eyes off of the prize.

[icedchai]

Your boss has something is stable and makes money. Why jeopardize that for growth? Growth brings a lot of problems: more people, more overhead, communication issues, process issues... Too many startups go for revenue growth and never make any profit. You see it all the time in the SaaS space.

[mindcrime]

I mean, if he's the owner and that's his position, I only see a couple of obvious possibilities:

1. Convince your boss that growing the company is a reasonable goal. Whether or not this is even possible is an open question, and then there's the question of how to accomplish that. This would probably be a complicated process, and there's no guarantee that your current boss would ever agree.

2. Buy the company from him. If you really believe in the potential of the company, maybe you could buy it. If you don't have the money to do so handy, you might be able to find investors to go in on the venture with you. This would probably be a complicated process, and there's no guarantee that your current boss would ever agree.

3. Quit, and go do something else. Either start a company of your own, or take a job somewhere else. This is probably the path of least resistance in some regards, but it's obviously fraught with its own dangers.

[EnderMB]

Something I learned pretty quickly in building software is that no one is irreplaceable. I've seen lead developers that do literally everything walk out and never come back, and despite teething issues and an occasional lost contract, the company almost always survives.

I echo the other comments, but one thing you mentioned made me curious. You say it's an older company, but that they moved state? If that's the case, then is it possible to either move state again or to open up in another state as a satellite office? Maybe one option available for you is relocation, and to put your money where your mouth is.

Try asking your boss if he'd be open to opening another location, and giving you a goal of growing it over the space of six months to a year. If you succeed, then you continue there - if you fail, you accept redundancy.

[ian0]

Nobody, least of all your boss, will complain if you grow the companies revenue without significantly expanding on your cost base.

I would suggest thinking of this as a challenge, see if you are up to it. Grow it in a way where your boss is not taking on additional risk from scaling up prematurely. You mention the reliance on a few key customers, on this front you can also de-risk.

Also he does sound like he has his head screwed on. Ask him for more detailed feedback. I would imagine he has looked at your plans for growth and don't see them as a good idea because of X, Y, Z. Figure out what these are and take the criticisms on board.

[bobbonew]

I was in a situation similar to yours in 2012. I had worked for a small business programming and social media marketing firm. It was only the owner and myself working in the business – as well as subcontractors.

It was spoken about between the owner and I for years how we would grow the business and I would eventually become a partner.

We started at 32,000 a year, moved up to 70,000 a year, and moved up to $120,000 a year. When it was time to decide to take a contract worth several hundred thousand dollars… The owner decided not to because she didn’t want to grow the business that large.

I felt as though I wasted three years of my life working for a company that had no intention of actually really furthering my career -and my livelihood.

The following month I quit and left for another business. It sucked. The whole entire process. Leaving and explaining why.

My advice is to move on and try not to focus too much on it. You did as best as you could.

[kleer001]

> Basically, his mortgage and 4 wheelers are paid off so we must be big enough.

FYI, that sounds petulant.

Still...

Reframed as "I earnestly feel like we can be a benefit to more users and still keep the same benefits of our current size." (or something like that) while followed up with a plan to do that which demonstrates understanding of the issues involved... that's a whole different story and would likely get your boss's attention.

Though, after reading the rest of the comments I doubt even that would fly. A 50 y/o company? IMHO a single doubling was a once-in-a-generation thing. "startup mentality" does NOT a startup make.

Get the heck out of there.

For real though, growth for growths sake is the goal of cancer. Please consider "providing value to more customers" as an alternate strategy motto.

[potta_coffee]

Why should a company grow perpetually? This idea that every company's goal should be to take over the world is ridiculous. Let's trade, you work for my company and I'll work for yours. Your boss sounds like he's got a good head on his shoulders.

[Ice_cream_suit]

Quadrupling a Wire EDM / CNC precision manufacturing business would require massive capital outlay. It sounds like a good way to achieve bankruptcy.

Your boss is right.

[hitsurume]

If you see untapped potential in the company, why not just quit and start a competing company? If the company you work for is mildly successful, it sounds like there's room for more competition and for you to grab a larger share of the market if thats your goal / ambition.

[zelon88]

They are successful because they have invested a lot into automation and efficiency. We're the cleanest, greenest, leanest and newest shop I've ever seen. And we do so much with so little in terms of workforce. We have a very good thing going for us. It would take probably $100m to build what they've built.

Sales, however, is not very... effective. They don't go out and look for work. We rarely get dog and pony shows. We aren't putting our name out there. We are at the mercy of our small selection of deep-pocketed customers.

We are well positioned to take a lot of larger competitors by storm in the region. Up until recently I thought that's what we were doing, but I guess I was mistaken.

However I think I'm going to have an honest and up-front conversation about where the company is headed. It seems to be the most logical way forward. Really understand what the reasons are for our current direction and see if it's something I can live with. I'm comfortable if it's not going to work and I have to start looking, but it's just kind of a sad feeling. I was totally ready to fly this flag to the top.

[codegeek]

I would love to have an employee like you in my business BUT the fact is that it is not your call to determine the company's vision. The owner decides the vision and goals for a company. So perhaps you need to respect that since they don't want the extra hassle of growth and I can assure you that the more you try to grow, the more hassles you take on (I am in the middle of it right now). So yea, unfortunately your boss's visions are not aligned with yours and you cannot expect them to change that. I would say embrace it and move on accordingly.

[wolco]

Is your goal to become a department head? Don't join a startup... three things need to go right. They grow so they need department heads, they don't need you to develop anymore and see you as the best person for the role.

Start a side business because you can slowdown at work.

Chances are a startup never grows to need a dept head. The goal is usually to stay under 20 and keep everything flat until someone buys them.

You have startups who get series financing and they grow quickly over two years and hopefully ipo. But those are not 50 year old businesses.

[jf22]

>Basically, his mortgage and 4 wheelers are paid off so we must be big enough.

Isn't that the point?

I'm not starting side projects with a hope of growing them beyond what gives me a comfortable lifestyle.

[segmondy]

Go start your own business and grow it as large as you want. You can even be bigger than Department Head.

[flyingeaglejkt]

fired him ..