Core Insights - Sustained revenue growth is a critical indicator of a company's success, but achieving this has become increasingly difficult in the past 15 years due to economic slowdowns and rising inflation [2] - Companies need a comprehensive growth blueprint that includes a grand vision, effective empowerment mechanisms, and a clear growth path to reverse the trend of declining growth rates [2][3] - Revenue growth is the key driver of corporate performance, with a 5% increase in annual revenue growth correlating to a 3-4% increase in total shareholder return (TSR) [2] Revenue Growth Challenges - The median annual growth rate for sample companies was only 2.8% in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, with only 12.5% achieving over 10% growth [3] - A significant "mean reversion" phenomenon exists, where only one-third of companies in the top 25% of growth from 2009 to 2014 maintained that growth in the following five years [3] Growth Principles - **Principle 1: Competitive Advantage** Companies with high return on invested capital (ROIC) can attract more capital and create a virtuous cycle of growth and returns [5] - **Principle 2: Capitalize on Trends** Focusing on high-growth, high-profit sectors can enhance shareholder returns by 1-2 percentage points [7] - **Principle 3: Avoid Mediocrity** Companies that outperform their industry in growth can achieve an additional 5 percentage points in shareholder returns [9] - **Principle 4: Strengthen Core Business** 83% of revenue growth for sample companies comes from their core business, emphasizing the need to activate and strengthen this area [10] - **Principle 5: Expand Boundaries** Companies that venture into related fields can see an average increase of 1.5 percentage points in shareholder returns [13] - **Principle 6: Focus on Familiarity** Companies that expand into highly related fields can achieve up to 2 percentage points more in shareholder returns [15] - **Principle 7: Dominate Local Markets** Companies that fail to grow in their home markets struggle to achieve overall growth, with less than 20% of those with low local growth outperforming their peers [19] - **Principle 8: Leverage Local Strengths** Companies with strong local growth can gain an additional 2.6 percentage points in returns through international expansion [20] - **Principle 9: Systematic Acquisitions** Systematic acquirers, who make multiple small acquisitions annually, outperform those using other acquisition strategies [23][24] - **Principle 10: Strategic Divestitures** Companies that strategically divest underperforming segments can achieve higher shareholder returns compared to those relying on large acquisitions [27] Conclusion - Companies must establish clear growth objectives that exceed business inertia and design coherent growth paths that incorporate multiple principles to achieve sustainable growth [30]