Growth Insights
In our series of articles Growth Insights we share our experience of client engagements to look at some of the issues which accelerate or inhibit company growth.
Focus on the critical few....rather than the trivial many
Too many growth companies are overwhelmed by lengthy plans and the distraction of the trivial many. Their CEOs find themselves drowning in detail, solving the crise du jour but unable to focus on those few things that would make growth happen. Cast as heroes, they play brilliantly, but dismally fail the audition from actor to director.
Great CEOs identify and pursue the 'critical few'. They make hard choices, adopt an unreasonable stubbornness and ensure each team member is clear and accountable. They leave no fudge room.
Getting your story straight - not so innocent!
There are two sides to messaging: creating and delivering. Message creation is crucial - you have to nail what makes you different to your competitors and explain it in clear, engaging terms. But in our experience, although message creation is hard, where a lot of companies fall down isn't creation, but delivery.
The Innovation Myth Scatter fairy dust or common sense?
What if innovation were stripped of mystery? What if the innovator weren't a mad genius or magician, but a disciplined observant entrepreneur working through simple steps, making incremental changes that collectively add up to great innovation?
The Start-up Investment Paradox Why less is more
Given that many business investors are on their way to the poor house, most start-ups are not going to secure investment until they become real companies. Here are five reasons why they may be better off...
Show me the money!
Many companies don't measure their value in quantifiable terms, but instead make unsubstantiated claims for their product or service. If you want to grow your business, build a repeatable process for measuring the value which you create - i.e. how much money you make or save the customer.
Five Steps to Successful Strategy Offsites
Successful offsites are the result of careful planning and structured follow-up. Follow the five steps to ensure your team feels buy-in to the process, and that your strategy offsite leaves major fingerprints on your business.
Hitting the Sweet Spot
Your sweet spot is where your target customers' needs fit with what's special about your product or service. You will waste time and valuable resources on the wrong customers if you don't clarify your sweet spot.
Shared Vision - Upbeat thinking in a downtown economy
A shared vision lays down, in succinct, compelling terms, what your company stands for, what sets it apart, and what it's striving to achieve. It provides guidance for your team and signposts key goals. Companies without shared vision tend to drift and pull in different directions. They are the first to go in a downturn, when only the fittest survive.