The Problem
A core management team has driven the company to achieve success insofar as building sustainable revenue streams and an operational infrastructure which delivers value to customers.
After the excitement of driving the company from start-up to viable business, however, comes something usually quite unexpected – frustration. Growth begins to slow. The recipe which propelled the company to this point stops working quite so well. Investment in growth does not bring the returns expected. The company is fine, revenues healthily exceed costs but, its upward trajectory has levelled-off. Stagnation is taking hold.
We often spot tell-tell signs. Senior management begin to either reset their expectations downwards – often looking nostalgically back to a time earlier in the company’s evolution when things were ‘simpler’ or they ‘enjoyed it more’. Equally, we find tension can arises in previously tight-knit core management teams, as they begin to lose patience with each other. Further, a general air of disillusionment often sets in among more junior staff and the bright sparks can’t be retained. It can be a struggle to maintain a healthy company culture whilst combating such workforce apathy and management angst.
Much of the above stems very simply from frustration. Oftentimes the reasons for stalled growth cannot be identified – how could an operation, team and product which worked so well until now not be working anymore? Exasperation can also lead to the search for convenient explanations, such as market conditions – convenient, as the management team are apparently powerless to fix such problems.
There are however rational and manageable reasons for such stalled growth. In fact, such a predicament indicates as much an ‘opportunity’ as it might a ‘problem’. This is to say it is a reliable indication that the organisation is ready to make the leap to its next phase of growth as a business. This is why prior methods no longer reap the benefits they did in the past – the company is a different beast now and has different needs in and of itself. This is the reason for senior management’s frustration and junior management’s disillusionment. It is the reason for stagnation. The business has outgrown elements of its existing infrastructure and practices. In order to make the leap to the next phase of its growth, the organisation requires additional or different support from that which was previously appropriate.
Leaping that chasm, from one phase of growth to the next, cannot be a step-by-step evolutionary process – it requires massive action – or stagnation will persist.
Overcoming critical barriers to growth, at critical times in growth.
Solution
After many years dealing with such circumstances, COL is expert in identifying growth maturity, assessing growth dynamics and diagnosing barriers which stop an organisation from punching-through to the next phase of commercial maturity.
We typically apply strategy and planning, process engineering, organisational design and technology implementation as part of concurrent, multi-project engagements. Such engagements focus on key functions within the business that drive commercial growth, namely; sales, marketing, customer services and operations. Other functional areas may be indirectly affected, or need to support changes, such as IT and HR.
We necessarily adopt a holistic approach as the only effective way to realise the massive action required to pull a business out of stagnation and into its next phase of commercial maturity.
Overcoming critical barriers to growth, at critical times in growth.
Benefit
The specific diagnosis and pursuant programme of action will differ for every company, depending on its unique circumstances. However, speaking in general terms for illustrative purposes, we commonly observe a number of benefits as a result of the programme – benefits which ultimately free the organisation realise sustainable growth:
- Management personnel tend to become more motivated to take initiative and enthusiastically apply their expert knowledge and niche skillsets (or indeed, senior management are freed with a new sense of confidence to hire such appropriately specialist personnel).
- The commercial functions are left better able to;
- capture market share
- penetrate new and larger markets
- provide better customer service
- undertake faster product development
- Staff retention tends to increase and company culture takes a turn for the better.
- Senior management gain better, more actionable oversight of the organisation’s activities.
- Strategy and planning in key functional area is better defined.
- The sales, marketing & customer service functions are left more robust and sophisticated.
- There is efficient coordination between board level, senior management and functional teams.
- The right technology, or better adoption of existing technologies, is implemented to facilitate the organisation’s activities more efficiently.
Beating Stagnation in this way frees the company to punch-through to its next phase of growth and realise its full potential as a mature commercial enterprise.
Overcoming critical barriers to growth, at critical times in growth.
How we work
We undertake the following process in a typical Scale-up engagement. Please note this process is especially subject to flex and adaptation, given the nature of many Scale-up businesses we engage with;
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