If you want to grow your business by 15% to 20% per year, where do you begin? Do you ask what new business you should be in? Do you adopt a novel strategic framework, make a big acquisition, seize a new market opportunity?

Not if you're a midsize company. You don't yet have the resources to do everything simultaneously. Pursuing risky new businesses, markets, and strategic frameworks too hastily can take your eyes off the ball– with disastrous consequences.

Instead, ask what more you can make of the business you're in right now. By focusing on mature activities, you reinforce your foundation of operational excellence–high performance in all areas contributing to customer satisfaction: product quality, lead time, on-time delivery, technical support.

From this foundation, you take more adventurous steps in the strategic pathway. This simple but disciplined sequence of priorities starts with protecting your existing business. Then it proceeds to further penetrating existing markets, extending into new markets, and finally diversifying with new products.

The strategic pathway isn't new. But following it rigorously can help you resist the siren song of new products and markets–until you're ready for them.