There’s different ways to grow the company. You can do it through acquisition or you can do it by growing organically, getting more from the current operation.

There’s a case that can be made for both. It all depends which is right in the circumstance. It could be both could be right and one of the keys is coming down to execution. How well can you execute either strategy?

When might acquisition be a viable alternative?

1. Market timing. There are times in the market when acquisitions are relatively cheap and it’s a less expensive way to pickup new customers and infrastructure.

2. Synergies. There are synergies that come with the acquisition that you can pick up quicker than having to build them on your own. The acquisition might give you entrees into new customers, new markets, new product or service lines, new technology, new infrastructure or new R&D resources.

3. Timing. Timing may be very important at this stage of the life cycle in your industry. It might be a race for market share and you need to grab what you can before positions become too entrenched.

4. More leverage. You may be tapped out in your bandwidth in people, systems, or financing. You can acquire that capability that you’ve been missing internally.

On the other hand, there are cases where organic growth can make more sense.

1. Pricey market. The acquisition market can be expensive at times and it can be cheaper to pick up new business organically.

2. Bandwidth. If you have a lot of bandwidth available with your management team, technology, financial structure, etcetera, you’ve got a long way to go before you can tap out and the incremental return that you’re going to get on organic growth is quite high.

3. Competition. If you believe you’re in a strong, competitive position and feel certain that you can take a good bite out of competitors, why not pick up share from competitors now and then, perhaps, do the acquisition later when they’re in more of a distressed position?

4. Culture. If you’re comfortable with the culture you have inside your company and not quite so comfortable with the culture in various acquisition targets out there, this can be a key reason why acquisitions fail. So give yourself credit if you recognize this up front. Save yourself some headaches.

Like many things, it all depends on what make sense at this point in time and what fits your ability to execute. Do what fits you best.