Working on your growth strategy? Here are three questions to ask.

Exploring new markets and opportunities is a lot like navigation - it is important to understand your starting point before you determine how to get where you're going. These questions can help orient you and provide clarity in the planning process.

Growth doesn't start with a marketing plan — it starts with clarity. Before setting new goals, every principal, owner, and executive should be able to answer these three questions:

1. Who are we as a company? What do we truly value? What are we exceptional at? How would our own team describe our culture — and does that match how the market sees us?

2. Who are our ideal clients? Beyond "anyone who'll hire us" — what's the real profile? Sector, geography, size, decision-making style, communication style. And just as important: which clients are actually the most profitable to serve?

3. Are our growth initiatives realistic — and can everyone articulate them? Here's the truth most firms avoid: you can't meaningfully pursue more than 3-4 growth goals in a year. If you can't ask a team member at any level "what are we working on and why" and get a clear answer, the strategy isn't working — it's just sitting in a deck.

Clarity on these three questions separates firms that grow intentionally from firms that just grow busy.