The Growth Challenge
Many business owners wait for certainty before making important decisions.
The problem is that certainty rarely arrives.
Whether launching a new product, expanding into a new market or acquiring a business, growth often requires action before all the answers are available.
In this article, originally featured in Elite Business: Hardship in business is not always a warning sign. Sometimes it is the training ground that builds stronger owners and better businesses
Most business owners spend years hoping things will eventually become easier. Easier cash flow. Easier staffing. Easier growth. Easier decisions.
I understand why. Business ownership can be relentless. The pressure is constant, and there are moments where it feels like success should surely come with less struggle. But the hard road is often shaping the very capability the business will eventually need from you.
I was reminded of this recently while spending time with a manufacturing business operating in a practical, everyday sector. The kind of business most people barely notice until something goes wrong. Yet when it does, suddenly it becomes urgent and important.
The owner had not followed some perfectly planned entrepreneurial journey. There had been setbacks, responsibility arriving too early, difficult decisions and long periods of uncertainty. That is more common than most people admit.
Too often, we look at successful businesses and assume the owner had clarity from the beginning. Most did not. Most owners learn through pressure. They grow because the demands of the business force them to grow.
That is why many owners misunderstand hardship. Not every difficult season is a sign something is broken. Sometimes difficulty is the training ground.
Of course, poor systems, weak financial discipline and operational chaos should never be accepted as normal. Those issues need fixing. But even well-run businesses face pressure because growth itself creates pressure.
A bigger business demands a different version of the owner: more resilience, better judgement, greater emotional control.
You do not develop those qualities before growth happens. More often, the business forces them out of you as it grows.
I have seen owners carry payroll through brutal trading conditions, recover from losing major customers, and navigate personal hardship while trying to keep the business stable. None of it feels valuable while you are inside it.
But over time, if the owner learns from the pressure rather than simply fighting it, something changes. Decisions improve and systems strengthen, the owner becomes calmer and more capable under pressure. The business grows because the owner grows.
Think about physical training. Nobody builds strength by avoiding resistance. Strength comes through resistance. The pressure itself forces adaptation.
Business works much the same way.
That does not mean every hard season automatically produces growth. Some owners become reactive or exhausted by prolonged pressure. Difficulty can absolutely shrink a person if it is allowed to consume them.
But I have also seen many owners emerge stronger, more focused and better able to build proper structure into the business. And structure is what matters.
Enduring businesses are not built on hustle forever. They are built on systems, leadership, consistency and sound decision-making. Businesses capable of functioning and growing without exhausting the owner every single day.
So perhaps the question is not, “Why is this hard?” Perhaps the better question is, “What is this season trying to teach me?”
Because sometimes the struggle is not blocking growth, it is preparing you for it.
Date: 03 July 2026
Time: 7.30am to 11.30am
Venue: Cresta Lodge, Gaborone
Identify Your Growth Impediments:
Spot recurring impediments to growth and value and how to resolve them
Troubleshoot with Pavlo and the group on challenges and draw on the group’s experience and ideas
Design Your Actionable Scaleup Blueprint:
Develop a three-to-five-year roadmap to deliver growth, improved value, and operational and management succession. Including:
“Real-world relatability to any business in any industry”
As an entrepreneur, Pavlo Phitidis cut his teeth in turnaround companies. Then spent a few years in M&A, which allowed him to conclude 68 transactions before answering a call of duty in a family business, which enabled his parents’ retirement.
Pavlo co-founded Aurik by directly starting, growing and exiting 12 businesses to develop a business growth system, which has worked with upwards of 3,500 established companies in 4 countries.
Pavlo is a passionate advocate for business as a force for good and has brought this to life through more than 1,200 radio segments, two books, Sweat, Scale $ell and Reset, Rebuild, Reignite and hundreds of articles for columns across business and lifestyle titles.
Daily, he works with private business owners, personally and through his company, to resolve growth and value challenges.
Davison Charamba is a visionary entrepreneur, Fellow Chartered Accountant, and seasoned business advisor with over 20 years of experience across executive leadership, finance, governance, and enterprise transformation, with a strong track record in capital raising, organisational restructuring, management buyouts, and strategic partnerships. As co‑founder of Addmath, he is deeply committed to helping entrepreneurs move from potential to performance by building well‑governed, and enduring enterprises, mentoring founders to think and act as long‑term value creators. This passion is embedded in Addmath Advisory’s DNA, which provides entrepreneurs with financial clarity, discipline, and strategic insight. On the other hand, Addmath will create a strong pipeline into the Aurik Programme by preparing ambition‑driven business owners with solid financial foundations and ensuring they are structurally ready to execute, scale, and ultimately transition or exit with confidence.
Leave with a practical, customised, actionable blueprint to implement in your business the next day, setting you on a clear path to achieving your ambitions.
Walk out with a new network of business owners to support and drive your business growth
“Very informative and simplified a complex process”
This event has closed, for other Aurik events, visit www.aurik.com/events or register your interest in joining an event near you here https://aurik.com/2025/07/10/register-for-a-scale-up-growth-blueprint-workshop/
This practical, non-technical workshop is for established business owners with between 15 and 150 employees who want to:
Whether you’re in manufacturing, services, retail, or distribution, if you’re a business owner driving growth, signing off the tech budget, and carrying the weight of the business, this is built for you.
What You’ll Get From It
Five crisp, practical outcomes:
This Is Not For
Who should attend?
As an entrepreneur, Pavlo Phitidis cut his teeth in turnaround companies. Then spent a few years in M&A, which allowed him to conclude 68 transactions before answering a call of duty in a family business, which enabled his parents’ retirement.
Pavlo co-founded Aurik by directly starting, growing and exiting 12 businesses to develop a business growth system, which has worked with upwards of 3,500 established companies in 4 countries.
Pavlo is a passionate advocate for business as a force for good and has brought this to life through more than 1,200 radio segments, two books, Sweat, Scale $ell and Reset, Rebuild, Reignite and hundreds of articles for columns across business and lifestyle titles.
Daily, he works with private business owners, personally and through his company, to resolve growth and value challenges.
Build Your Scale-Up & Growth Blueprint:
A 4-Hour Hands-On Business Workshop
Hosted by internationally recognised speaker and business growth expert, Pavlo Phitidis, this workshop is designed to help established business owners step out of the engine room and take control of their business’s future.
In this dynamic and practical session, you will:
This is not theory. It’s a proven framework, tailored to your business, delivered in an engaging, eye-opening and highly practical way.
Scaling, exiting, or passing your business to the next generation won’t happen by accident. Success requires:
The Blueprint equips you with exactly that, giving you the tools and clarity to make the big decisions with confidence.
“Real-world relatability to any business in any industry”
By the end of the session, you will leave with a 3–5 year roadmap to grow your business, improve value, and secure its future. Your personalised blueprint will include:
Before investing in Aurik, Johan worked in mergers and acquisitions, where he saw the scale of the challenge facing business owners who believed they could sell their businesses.
Of the +-250 businesses he worked with over 8 years, 81% of these business owners could not sell their businesses. This corroborated his personal experiences of struggling to sell his own businesses.
Johan was already running his first business while qualifying for his B.Comm in Entrepreneurship. He subsequently started and built several companies across sectors including IT, Finance, Publishing and Digital marketing. For 10 years he ran a financing company that offered bridging and project finance, among other solutions. He spent 2 years in a large corporate, where he was a project manager on a range of FMCG projects. This accumulated experience developed his borderline-obsession with what he calls ‘the end game’: building a business so that it can be sold.
As an entrepreneur, Pavlo Phitidis cut his teeth in turnaround companies. Then spent a few years in M&A, which allowed him to conclude 68 transactions before answering a call of duty in a family business, which enabled his parents’ retirement.
Pavlo co-founded Aurik by directly starting, growing and exiting 12 businesses to develop a business growth system, which has worked with upwards of 3,500 established companies in 4 countries.
Pavlo is a passionate advocate for business as a force for good and has brought this to life through more than 1,200 radio segments, two books, Sweat, Scale $ell and Reset, Rebuild, Reignite and hundreds of articles for columns across business and lifestyle titles.
Daily, he works with private business owners, personally and through his company, to resolve growth and value challenges.
This workshop is for established private business owners and their key partners. If you’re serious about scaling, preparing for an exit, or creating a lasting business legacy, you need to be in the room.
Bring your leadership team so that everyone is aligned on your growth blueprint – the shared destination and measurable outcomes – and ready to execute across all functions of your business.
“Very informative and simplified a complex process”
Build Your Scale-Up & Growth Blueprint:
A 4-Hour Hands-On Business Workshop
Hosted by internationally recognised speaker and business growth expert, Pavlo Phitidis, this workshop is designed to help established business owners step out of the engine room and take control of their business’s future.
In this dynamic and practical session, you will:
This is not theory. It’s a proven framework, tailored to your business, delivered in an engaging, eye-opening and highly practical way.
Scaling, exiting, or passing your business to the next generation won’t happen by accident. Success requires:
The Blueprint equips you with exactly that, giving you the tools and clarity to make the big decisions with confidence.
“Real-world relatability to any business in any industry”
By the end of the session, you will leave with a 3–5 year roadmap to grow your business, improve value, and secure its future. Your personalised blueprint will include:
Before investing in Aurik, Johan worked in mergers and acquisitions, where he saw the scale of the challenge facing business owners who believed they could sell their businesses.
Of the +-250 businesses he worked with over 8 years, 81% of these business owners could not sell their businesses. This corroborated his personal experiences of struggling to sell his own businesses.
Johan was already running his first business while qualifying for his B.Comm in Entrepreneurship. He subsequently started and built several companies across sectors including IT, Finance, Publishing and Digital marketing. For 10 years he ran a financing company that offered bridging and project finance, among other solutions. He spent 2 years in a large corporate, where he was a project manager on a range of FMCG projects. This accumulated experience developed his borderline-obsession with what he calls ‘the end game’: building a business so that it can be sold.
As an entrepreneur, Pavlo Phitidis cut his teeth in turnaround companies. Then spent a few years in M&A, which allowed him to conclude 68 transactions before answering a call of duty in a family business, which enabled his parents’ retirement.
Pavlo co-founded Aurik by directly starting, growing and exiting 12 businesses to develop a business growth system, which has worked with upwards of 3,500 established companies in 4 countries.
Pavlo is a passionate advocate for business as a force for good and has brought this to life through more than 1,200 radio segments, two books, Sweat, Scale $ell and Reset, Rebuild, Reignite and hundreds of articles for columns across business and lifestyle titles.
Daily, he works with private business owners, personally and through his company, to resolve growth and value challenges.
This workshop is for established private business owners and their key partners. If you’re serious about scaling, preparing for an exit, or creating a lasting business legacy, you need to be in the room.
Bring your leadership team so that everyone is aligned on your growth blueprint – the shared destination and measurable outcomes – and ready to execute across all functions of your business.
“Very informative and simplified a complex process”
