When you start a business, there are two ways to approach your growth goals. First, you can grow linearly, which could mean growing 10% year over year. Or, you can grow exponentially and blow up by 100%. And one business expert thinks you should go with the latter.

Meet Terry Rice, a business development consultant, staff writer at Entrepreneur magazine, and the “Launch Your Business” podcast host. Terry helps entrepreneurs adopt an exponential mindset and was recently on the “Organize Chaos” podcast to share his expertise.

In this episode, he shares how thinking big works and how it produces explosive growth.

Exponential thinking starts with a big vision

Terry says exponential thinking is less about making goals and more about defining a vision. “A goal might be making $500K next year, [but] a vision is what [life] looks like and feels like,” he explained. And that means you have to think broadly about what your business can do.

“Exponential thinking is asking, ‘How can I blow up my whole business model and find a new solution for ten times [growth]?’” Terry explained. This could mean selling your service in a different way or finding a new offering altogether.

For example, during the pandemic, Terry struggled to keep up with individual coaching sessions because his children were homeschooled during the calls. He envisioned a better solution where he could still coach clients without having to be online with each one physically.

As a result, Terry switched from offering individual sessions to selling pre-recorded courses. And while he lost revenue at first, his sales eventually increased because he could take on more clients.

“If you don’t know the vision, you will walk right by [it].”
<blockquoteauthor>Terry Rice, business development consultant, staff writer at Entrepreneur, and “Launch Your Business” podcast host<blockquoteauthor>

It requires deconstructing self-limiting beliefs

According to Terry, self-limiting beliefs stop most people from thinking big. And frequently, it’s the thoughts we’re unaware of unless we go searching. “[An experience] happens during childhood, and it sticks with you,” he explained. “So you [might have to do] some internal examination.”

Terry suggests starting with the book “Limitless” by Jim Quick for beginners. He says it’s an excellent manual for learning your self-limiting beliefs and how to deconstruct them. Or, whenever you find yourself second-guessing a vision, ask yourself the following questions:

• Why do I think I’m not good enough for this? 
• Where is my limit?

How you answer these questions can help reveal any subconscious limits. But remember that aiming for exponential growth is risky, so there will be fear and self-doubt. However, Terry says what you do with this feeling makes the difference. “As long as [you] put fear aside, have the vision, and put in the hard work, [you] can follow the clues to success,” he added.

“If you ask for more, you can expect more from yourself and other people.”

It helps to have peers who have taken significant risks

Whenever you’re coming up with a new idea for exponential growth, it helps to have peers who have been there before you. “Ask [for feedback] from people who have taken big risks in their life,” Terry shared. That way, you can leverage their experience and consider their advice.

Being surrounded by people with lofty goals also helps with accountability. Because Terry says these relationships often result in new ways of thinking. “[It helps] having people in your network who will challenge you,” he explained. “And even if they only get a little nudge from you, you’ve still exceeded what you thought were capable of [doing].”

If you don’t already have a network of like-minded peers, start by putting yourself and your brand out there. For example, you could consider joining in-person or online memberships for entrepreneurs or simply introduce yourself to your favorite business owners.

Adapt to second-order thinking

On a tactical level, Terry suggests adopting second-order thinking, AKA when business owners envision the upsell from the very first transaction. “[Second-order thinking] is [finding] what else you can do to generate revenue and build a tighter relationship,” Terry explained.

For example, let’s say you just signed a new client for a website build. Instead of ending the transaction at the website build, you might consider other offerings — like ongoing site maintenance or copywriting services. This way, you increase customer lifetime value, boost revenue, and grow faster as a result.

“Once you already have a yes from someone or built a relationship, that’s the easiest person to go further with because you’ve established that trust.”

Thinking big doesn’t mean you’ll always achieve exactly what you set out to do. But it does improve the odds that you’ll achieve more than you thought possible, including business growth.