Alison Bird looks at how aiming high and taking a strategic view will help your business step up a gear and avoid a plateau.

Your business is going well. Customers are happy, feedback is good, figures are looking very promising. Interest and sales rise and you continue to work hard. Then something happens, or rather doesn't happen, it stays the same. Everything is flat, including, probably, your energy levels and motivation. If this sounds familiar, then your business has probably reached a growth plateau.

A growth plateau can occur for a number of reasons. Kim Collins, Director, New Business, Bank of Scotland Corporate, explains. "Sometimes growth plateaus are unavoidable. Take a new business in an emerging market – it realises an untapped niche and exploits it. Everyone says 'what a fantastic idea', but then the market catches up, there is competition, even market saturation. The company's growth will likely plateau and then even decline."