Turning quick growth pitfalls into opportunities

Summary:The rapid growth stage can be the best and the worst times for any company, and, hence,needs to be handled appropriately. This article discusses how you can keep everything under control during this nerve-racking journey.

Businesses are constantly under pressure to grow. And when an organization enters into that much aspired-for mode earlier than expected, everything suddenly starts looking exciting.  Landing lucrative contracts, jumping sales numbers, double digit growth! A moment of excitement and optimism.However, companies need to remember that this is not the time for unbridled optimism; hundreds of start-ups suffer untimely demise due to premature scaling. So many firms every year make to the Inc.in list of top 5000 fastest growing companies. How many of them sustain the momentum over the next five years? Not even a few hundreds, according to industry estimates. That is because a meteoric rise has its downsides. Before long, the company experiencing quick growth is left to deal with the twin problems of shortage of manpower and unavailability of ready cash – the two most dangerous byproducts of quick growth. Gradually, it becomes difficult for you to keep to your commitments, and that culminates into a decline in quality and ultimately a drop in the sale. Back to square one. Paradoxical but real.

So, too much growth is undoubtedly problematic to deal with. And when it comes, you have two options – back out or take the plunge. Fortunately, with a pragmatic plan in place, you’ll find yourself in a position to deal with this sudden upturn of your business curve while taking control of its (often undesired) outcomes. That is why it’s critical to find your strategy partner as soon as you start seeing the first signs of unanticipated boom. From redefining your execution plans to reorganizing the operations, from helping you to streamline vendor/ partner management to advising you on optimizing your working capital, and from enhancing your customer relationship management system to improving the brand positioning, your growth strategy consultant will help you prepare an action plan for handling this bullish phase of your business without getting crushed by it.

Get the Domain Expertise in Place

When you start getting more business than you can handle, the first thing you need to do is, bring in more talent.  However, while doing so, remember that business is all about the right people and the employees you hire now will decide your business success tomorrow. You should be especially careful while revamping your C-suit structure. People in this bracket need to be agile and flexible at the same time so that they can balance between the past innovations and new vision, model, and processes to scale according to changing customer needs and demands. Also, reassess your present talent pool; if it is not aligned to the current and future opportunities, it’s time for injecting fresh blood to the team. Also, you may not have to ramp up your resource base at all; your consultant may advise you for an outsource based on their analysis. Choice of execution partner is also critical, especially for those businesses where procurement of large machines and equipment are involved. This is another area, where you need to follow a sound strategy.

Build an Efficient Operational Foundation with Technology Enablers

You will have to augment monitoring when your company grows at a rapid pace. And for that, you need to build a strong and scalable backend system. An efficient system of operation starts with the right tools and technologies. Having the right technologies in your agile toolkit will not only help you cope with the spike in the present activities, but also enable you to attain sustainable growth in future. Your consulting partner will help you sensibly allocate your technology budget and choose the tools for optimizing productivity.

Ensure Customer Satisfaction

Whether or not a business will thrive depends entirely on its ability to keep customers satisfied. To maintain the good quality in your customer relation, you’ll have to invest in the right tools, hire new employees, segment duties, reorganize team structure, and so on.

Streamline Your Clientele

At this phase, you can afford to get rid of some dead weight customers. Stop trying to serve everyone. Stop going on and on building products and catering to a clientele that does not drive the optimum value for your organization. Eliminate these customers from the equation and instead, focus on products/ service/ customer segments that would give you the opportunity to best leverage your USPs. These are the products that will sell best and would drive the most value. Acquiring the best clients for your business model will not only keep the acquisition costs at the minimum but also provide the foundation for a mutually beneficial long-term relationship. Instead of acquiring clients on a random basis, you must choose engagements on certain defined metrics, on which your strategy partner will guide you. The metrics may include region-wise market survey for ensuring sustainable growth. This metrics is especially crucial where international trade is involved. In such a scenario, consulting firm-scan leverage their structured approach and time-tested frameworks to derive a winning strategy.

As we have already said, business growth may not mean a blessing all the time. It’s always prudent not to rush for it. In an ideal world, you should start expanding when you are sure that your venture is actually ready for the upsurge. But in the real world, everything does not go as per the theory and if you are one of those companies experiencing a fortuitous boom, just welcome it. With the right strategy, you will not only overcome the challenges but also attain sustainable growth. To find the right strategic vision for your business, rope in on a business consulting firm, having proven experience in your area of business.