(Originally published at WhatTheyThink.com on July 5, 2006) -- What does it take to grow a business? Why do some businesses grow naturally and others don’t grow no matter how hard they try?

It is true that some printing companies don’t want to grow. I remember my father telling me that he wanted to keep his small printing company small. He wanted to keep the business at about 15 employees because, as he told me, he would have “greater control and less headaches.” As his respectful and compliant son, with little understanding of these matters at the time, this made sense to me.

Sadly, small does not equate with “greater control and less headaches” like my dad said. Small businesses have disruption and crises to the same extent as larger businesses. It is just that the scale of the chaotic event tends to be proportionately downsized.