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For years, I have tried to answer this one question: What do small businesses that achieve sustained growth do differently than those that do not grow?

As a Senior Consultant for Inc. (the magazine for growing companies,) I speak to thousands of business owners each year. I've learned that there are no silver bullets or 17-point checklists that will lead to guaranteed growth. There are, however, seven specific areas in which growing companies concentrate their efforts.

#1 A strong sense of purpose: Most leaders of growth companies discover that it takes more than the promise of increasing financial reward to fuel their aspirations and ambitions. Growth companies find a higher calling than simply the pursuit of "more money."

#2 Outstanding market intelligence: This is an organization's ability to first recognize, and then adapt to fundamental changes in the marketplace. Many times, small business owners become too myopic, seeing only a limited view of the markets in which they compete. Growth leaders see the bigger picture.

#3 Effective growth planning: This is the best predictor of whether or not your business will grow. To be effective, a growth plan does not need to be overly formal or complicated. It does, however, need to be written, well-communicated, and regularly updated.

#4 Customer-driven processes: These days, every company I talk to believes they are customer-driven, when in reality, very few truly are. Take a look at all of your processes from a customer's perspective. Are these processes in place to make your life easier, or to help deliver on the promise of faster, cheaper and better for your customer?

#5 Using the power of technology: Don't let the boom and bust of technology cycles give you an excuse to ignore the fact that we live in an information age. If you are in business, you are in the technology business.

#6 Hire and retain the best and brightest people: Growth leaders recognize that they are only as good as the people with which they surround themselves. The ability to hire, train, and retain the best and the brightest people is often the difference between success and failure.

#7 Seeing the future: Few organizations take the time to regularly consider the future. Growth leaders learn how to diligently monitor and interpret the macro forces of change affecting the world in which they live.

Steven S. Little is the former president of three fast-growth companies and is the author of the new book "The Seven Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth." To get more information, you can visit his very unique website at www.stevenslittle.com

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