Inner Game of Business Growth

Bust your barriers to growth, profitability, and ease of operation

Mike Van Horn 
#13 in the series

Why do some businesses grow rapidly while others struggle for growth and profitability? The difference often lies within the noggin of the owner. You are the biggest asset of your business, and likely the biggest bottleneck as well.

All the clichés are true. The buck stops with you. You have to look in the mirror. To overcome your barriers to growth, ease, and profitability, you must work on yourself—that is, your own management practices, habits, attitudes, and beliefs.

This book describes a “mindset for growth” and gives you exercises and other aids to help you explore these for yourself.

This workbook focuses on your work habits, management style, and attitudes.

Topics covered

  • A mindset for growth, profitability, and ease. Contrast with self-defeating management habits

  • How to change your management practices, habits, attitudes and beliefs (M-PHABs)

  • How to tackle contradictory attitudes

  • How to change the dynamic between you and your managers

  • How to change a vicious circle into a virtuous ladder

  • Low profitability diagnosis sheet

  • How to make the changes stick

  • Can you change the work habits and attitudes of others?

  • A team can work on itself.

  • Templates and exercise sheets

Warm up exercise

From the workbook

What gets in your way of a mindset for growth?

Do any of these apply to you?

Look at yourself—see if you notice contradictory attitudes like these:

On the one hand … On the other hand

I can’t get all my work done.

I must learn how to manage my time better.

We’ve got to stay on budget.

We’ve got to watch costs.

Low margins are killing us.

I’ve got to take more time away from the business.

I need more skilled employees.

I need more sales.

I get so tangled up in day-to-day operations that I lose sight of my vision.

I want to ease up and work fewer hours.

I’m not hiring another employee

I can’t find the time to make the needed changes in how I use my time.

I can’t resist making last minute design changes.

I can’t be bothered to review the financials.

I can’t bring myself to raise prices.

I can’t leave my managers alone. I can’t totally trust them.

I’m afraid I’ll just train my own competition. I’m afraid I won’t have enough work to keep them busy.

Marketing scares me. I wish customers would just come.

I doubt the value of having a plan.

I can’t change my belief that hard work is necessary.