Strategic growth is very important to any business.

Strategic growth is very important to any business.

Growth strategy is basically a plan or line of attack that a business puts into place to achieve a set of goals.

Growth strategy can be simplified as:

l Where your business is currently;

l Where you want it to be; and

l How the business is going to get there.

On its own, a strategy cannot achieve success. Management and the team involved in getting the business to its aspired growth need an attitude change in whatever the strategy intends to achieve.

The 3D attitude-alignment strategy is desire, determination and dedication. A management attitude tune-up must deal with and understand strategy challenges.

Desire usually arises from a need. The need to grow is every businessman's dream.

To achieve a personal goal, you need to dream it and persevere until you get it. In business though, desire to achieve requires experience, knowledge and expertise.

In experience you have the best teacher. Past mistakes will offer valuable lessons and the will to do it better.

With knowledge, you have the power to excel. The more you know, the better it is to understand what needs to be done. There is no better time to learn than now.

Information and knowledge is available from literature or from attending courses. The more you learn how it can be done from different sources, the better armed you will be.

With expertise you have the weapons. Having the expertise for each task increases your chances of winning the strategic-growth battle. Finding expertise can be tough and pricey, but it is well worth it in the end. If you are going to have it done, it is best to do it properly.

Determination is the next attitude alignment. Often we aspire to achieve, but when the going gets tough, our determination is challenged.

We cannot emphasise enough that supporting factors to desire - experience, knowledge and expertise - will need much determination to realise the desired growth.

Remember that perseverance is the mother of success and success is a determination motivator.

Determination is an attitude, a mindset and the momentum to keep management on their toes to reach the desired target or objective.

Most businesses in the small-medium enterprise sector either run at a loss or just break even in the first one to two years after starting.

Without determination, these hard times can dent focus and momentum for strategic growth. Without a determined team, morale suffers and no one puts in any extra effort.

Lastly, and perhaps the most important, attitude-alignment strategy is dedication.

Dedication is like marriage. It is a lifetime commitment. Being an entrepreneur is never easy, especially in those difficult times where you know it can work, but money is tight and there is no one to turn to, especially the banks.

When days are dark, friends are few is a phrase that is well known to individuals and businesses. This is normally the turning point that separates determined entrepreneurs from those who just dream of owning businesses.

Being in a good marriage or dedicated to a business means giving them your everything - time, energy and sacrifice.

If your growth strategy is correctly researched for sustainability, correctly forecasted, properly positioned and the management attitude is in 3D, dedication is smooth sailing.

And if you genuinely want to get there, you'll put out all the stops. That's how most successful businesses got there.