Percentage growth, Exponential growth, and a cool little math trick

“I’m going to help you grow your business 6% per year!”

Okay, honestly, how many of us can do the math on that one? And what does it really mean in the end?

If your business is bringing in $100,000 a year it’s relatively easy math for the next two or three cycles. $106K, then $113K or so, maybe $120K after that … whatever, I don’t know.

If your business is bringing in $67,434 a year the math suddenly involves a calculator. And if you’re the one offering to grow somebody’s business by 6% every year, those numbers aren’t going to look incredibly impressive on paper because you’re only talking about percentage growth.

Here’s a hint for you. A way to get people’s attention far easier. Talk about exponential growth.

The secret is the number 70. Well, the number is actually 69.3, which is arrived at as a natural logarithm of 2 times 100. Don’t worry about this. Just memorize the number 70.

Now, take the magic number of 70 and divide it by your growth percentage.

70 divided by 6 = 11.66.

That’s the number of years it will take to double the business. And that sounds much better.

Example one:
“Let’s aim for an 8% growth rate in your territory per year.”

Example two:
“If we hit the goal numbers, you’ll double your income in 8.75 years, then double it again after that.”

Which sounds better to you?

Just remember the magic number to quickly figure a doubling of business based on a percentage of growth: 70.