There Are No Shortcuts To Success In Business. Or Are There?

This expert opinion by Daniel Marcos, Co-founder and CEO of Growth Institute, was originally published on Inc.com.

Twenty years ago, I learned one of the most important lessons of my career. I was just starting out as an investor, one of my clients, a highly experienced CEO, was looking to invest in a promising, fast-growing company. I advised him that it wasn’t the right time and suggested he wait, and he did. 

A few months later, the company’s stock skyrocketed. I felt embarrassed about my recommendation but knew I had to inform him of the news. I expected him to be upset that I had advised against buying. However, to my surprise, he remained calm. His response was: “This surge in stock price isn’t sustainable; just wait. Sooner or later, the price will have to come back down and fill the gap.” And just as he predicted, the stock price eventually returned to its previous level.

That was when I understood a fundamental truth: there are no shortcuts to increasing a company’s value. Every stage of growth is essential, and skipping steps only leads to setbacks and the need to correct gaps later on.

Companies may differ in what they sell, how they operate, their strategy, execution, and management, but they all grow in the same way, through five key stages. Trying to bypass any of these stages to speed up growth will inevitably lead to challenges, poor results, and, in some cases, regression that forces leaders to make up for deficiencies.

The best way to understand business growth is by comparing it to human development. Just like newborns, companies require intensive care and specialized nurturing to survive. As they grow, their needs evolve. They go through infancy, childhood, adolescence, and finally reach maturity, where they establish a clear identity and purpose.

Business growth stages can be categorized based on team size. Team size is a key indicator that helps gauge a company’s infrastructure, customer base, and revenue.

• Startup: 1–5 employees
• Grow-up: 6–15 employees
• Speed-up: 16–80 employees
• Scale-up: 80–250 employees
• Power-up: 250+ employees

There’s not an easy route when growing a business. Each stage comes with unique challenges and requires specific leadership skills. If leaders fail to recognize the stage their company is in and its particular needs, they may implement structures or strategies that don’t fit. Additionally, as businesses transition from one stage to the next, they face what Verne Harnish, author of Scaling Up, calls the “Valley of Death”, a period of stagnation or setbacks that leaders must anticipate and navigate.

As Marshall Goldsmith, business educator and world-renowned coach, famously said: “What got you here won’t get you there.” Every stage demands a team with the right skills and experience to tackle the challenges ahead. Success requires a well-crafted strategy to outperform the competition, paired with execution based on clear processes suited to the company’s current stage.

Knowing what decisions to make and how to make them starts with identifying where your company stands, a step that may seem simple but is often misunderstood by business leaders. Every leader must learn this essential lesson: there are no shortcuts to business growth. If you try to skip it, you’ll miss it. Recognizing and addressing gaps in development is crucial to scaling your impact while minimizing setbacks. 

When you’re truly invested, you find the drive to power through late nights of strategic planning, tackle inevitable challenges head-on, and push past the obstacles in your path. The journey is demanding and that’s the hard truth. Your business needs your all, brain and heart, with a certain reward at every stage.