I might have unintentionally offended some with my posts about the Inc. 5000, so I want to clarify my position.
I do not intend to minimize the accomplishment of being on the list or creating a growing company. It's not easy, and I want to avoid judging anyone who uses the list for recognition or if it helps their company somehow.
I wish there were a better way to recognize entrepreneurial success than by celebrating rapid top-line growth, and if I had a good idea about how to do this, I would want to make it happen.
Unfortunately, I have worked with several companies obsessed with top-line growth (many wanting Inc. recognition) at the expense of everything else. When the dominoes start to fall, it isn't easy to clean them up. And when I see this pain, it makes me wonder about the merits of the Inc. 5000.
I hope this clarifies my position.
Growth in revenue is good, Growth in profitability is better. We recommend small business owners join a peer group in their industry that provides clear and accurate benchmarking for an owner to gauge progress in that area. In the rental industry we recognize the "top quartile in EBITDA" after an audit procedure. Its as good as it gets!