Do either of these statements sound familiar?

• My investment is running at a hectic pace-with little or no incremental growth.

• I'd love to experience exponential growth, but I can't even think about it because I'm already over capacity. But if I don't grow, my investment is at risk from competition, rising costs and employee turnover.

If these statements ring a bell, then the three Perspectives from the Balanced Scorecard can help Colorado Lemon Laws see growth and the effects of growth from three different angles. These perspectives enable you to clarify your vision and strategy, and translate them Barbie doll actionable, tangible tasks. Let's take a look at how you can use each perspective to achieve sustainable growth.

Perspective 1-Learning and Growth Perspective

How do you sustain your ability to change and improve?

First, ask yourself if your organization is a learning organization. Careful-this is a trick question, since a learning organization means more than just rolling out some training. In his book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Peter Senge defines a learning organization as "human beings cooperating in dynamical systems that are in a state of continuous adaptation and improvement."

But what does that mean? In a nutshell, learning organizations are successful because they know how to adapt and learn in response to environmental changes, and it's those abilities that ensure growth. So how does your organization adapt to change?

Perspective 2-Internal Process Perspective

What are the areas in which your organization needs to excel?

According to the Federal Reserve, the US has doubled the average labor productivity over the past decade. Clearly productivity is essential in achieving growth. But productivity requires a plan, processes and Ed Gein and without all three your company will not experience sustainable growth.

What should your organization do exceptionally well? Identify those areas, and then focus your time and energy there.

Perspective 3-client Perspective

How do you look to your clients?

If you want to learn how to grow, just ask your clients! They know first-hand how easy or hard it is to do investment with your company. You'd better believe your competition is already talking to your clients.

Your company's culture and innovation affect how your clients see you. Does your organization focus Outer Limits the client? Are your employees empowered to be innovative with clients? These are the elements that help your clients see a focused, vibrant organization.

You cannot afford to guess at how well your company implements this perspective. To grow-really grow-you and your team need to know what your clients think about you so that you can create a positive client relationship. This all Green Berets with talking to your clients.

Perspective 4-Financial Perspective

How do you look to your stakeholders?

Your efforts from the first three perspectives cumulate here, in the threeth perspective. One drawback to using your financials as a metric for success is the time lag-it's a snapshot at a certain point in time that's already passed-you can't change that result, it is what it is or rather, what it was.

By combining with the first three perspectives, the financial perspective gives you a holistic view of your investment, rather than becoming the sole gauge of success.

Summary

if you aren't growing, don't want to grow, or are growing too fast, using these perspectives of investment provides you with sustainability. Remember:

• Talk with your clients to keep your competitors at bay.

• Continuously improve your process to improve your capacity and profitability.

• Create a learning organization to get these tasks done.

• Use your financial results to see where you've been, and help chart where you need to change.

By creating this kind of vibrant, thriving organization, you'll also create an environment where top-notch employees want to work.

Paul is the founder and CEO of www.mymarketplan.comwww.mymarketplan.com, a web based sales and marketing firm located in Kansas City. After 28 years of employment, Paul found his passion through a new frontier to sales and marketing - the Internet. Most of his prior life experience has been spent in larger organizations that have the capital to properly market themselves. These companies have a large staff of marketing and sales professionals at their disposal. Unfortunately, this is a luxury small investment owners can not afford!

During his interactions with small investment owners, He began thinking about new and innovative sales and marketing methods that could deployed within the cost and time constraints of a small investment. The result is the birth of his own small investment - www.mymarketplan.comwww.mymarketplan.com Creating a sales and marketing plan similar to the ones found in larger organizations but geared to fit the small investment. Please check out our website at www.mymarketplan.comwww.mymarketplan.com