It’s important to avoid taking your market lead for granted, whether you think about leadership in terms of customers, units, revenues, or profits.

Ask yourself:

Why do you need to grow?  What’s driving your desire to increase your top or bottom line–investors, competitors, internal targets, shifts in customer tastes? The answers help frame the level and type of growth you should pursue.

What’s your growth window?  How long do you have to grow before conditions begin to place stress on your current operating model?  Put differently, how might it be possible to disrupt your current position before others try to do so?

Are your growth expectations realistic, given the maturity of the products or services driving your revenue?

Do you have the data to explain exactly how you’re performing and why?  This would include customer and financial data but also comparative information like Net Promoter Score™ and other cohort-based analysis.

What’s your current innovative capacity both within the organization and through partnerships?  Could you accelerate products in the pipeline to close the gap or must you rely on external growth?

How much do top-line fluctuations affect bottom-line results?  How many margin points can you play with before  impacting the bottom line?

What drives unique value in the organization and how scalable is this?  Can you take current strengths and apply these to new markets?