Can a company achieve rapid growth and maintain an environment of quality and excellence?

This is possible with a strategic plan for anticipating and experiencing rapid growth in the context of your company values.

(Expanded and adapted from: WilliamBuck.com )

1. Strategic Plan for Rapid Growth – A strategic plan provides a framework for smart decision making. It outlines the vision, defines goals, future events that may impact your business and profitable strategies to grow and maintain standards of excellence and company values.

2. Develop Sound Corporate Governance – A Strategic Planning Advisory Group can guide the development of corporate governance procedures, evaluate growth business opportunities and risks, distinguish between operations and strategic planning, and bring another dimension to the decision making process.

3. Develop Reliable Management Reporting Systems – Weekly reporting and tracking systems provide your business with timely information, including the progress of key performance indicators, financial forecasts for management, quality of service, talent search, and “marketing traffic.”

4. Know your Market and Competitive Environment – Conduct regular research and document your strategic advantage; anticipate competitor offerings, changes in the market and customer needs, and adapt accordingly. Identify what makes your business unique; use this knowledge to highlight strengths to customers and partners.

5. Build an Understandable Business Model – Your business model should clearly demonstrate the vision and benefits to your customers and partners in the context of your values. Identify growth and profit drivers, as well as limitations; then draw up an action plan to maximize the drivers and minimize limitations. Based on market changes, it should be flexible and updated.

6. Communicate the Vision – Engaging and aligning your staff, customers, partners and target market in your vision and model is the key to success. Simplicity; sharing related examples; repetition of message in different venues; living the vision in leadership’s actions; and explaining challenges contribute to gaining buy-in.

7. Focus on Resource Growth – Hire experienced talent that “get” the model and can develop staff and excellence in each functional area. This will cut development time and allow for rapid growth. Train key talent to assist the founder(s), and fast-track productivity with strong induction programs to the vision, model and values. If possible, implement incentive-based remuneration for key staff. Secure funds in advance where possible to achieve your growth plans. Manage working capital carefully to ensure it is relatively free from debt.

8. Adopt Best Practices – Research and employ tested technologies and administrative systems that create operating efficiencies. Offer your clients quality services that increase user satisfaction and build company brand and loyalty.

9. Manage Changing Risks – Rapid growth businesses have ever-changing risks to identify and manage through a combination of quality assurance, insurance and structuring and maintaining standards and procedures and brand promise.

10. Keep your Eyes on the Prize – Don’t let key business functions lag; develop sales, finance, talent management, marketing and information technology as your business grows. Don’t get distracted; maximize your core products/services before considering expansion.

The Setting

To grow in this current economy, businesses will have to learn a new mindset with a new set of realities

and develop a strategic response. They face transitions.

FROM		TO
Complaining how bad things are		Reinventing for success
Waiting for the economy to turn around		Change business model; seize new opportunities
Jobs are lost and not being replaced		Find new ways to accomplish old tasks; entrepreneurs surfacing
Advertising once ruled; old media is dying		Conversations are the new media and expanding virally
Waste overflowing		Conservation new ethic
Greed rampant		Generosity new mantra
Pushing people is a trespass		Pulling engaged participants is natural and sustaining
Attention economy focus on interruption		Attraction economy focus on engagement
Brands were created and controlled		Brands grow organically
Employers searching for talent		Talent searching for right culture
Divide and conquer; do it by myself		Collaboration
Unprecedented growth		Record declines
Security		Fear of the future
Taking things for granted		Being grateful for what we have
Oil economy is dying		Alternative fuels are growing
Health care costs out of control		Health care model will change
Baby Boomers had secure retirement		Boomers look to secure their future

Being Strategic

Business transformation is challenging at best. But a well-formulated strategy can leverage the vast opportunities and provide for an orderly transition.

“Any review of history will reveal that the majority of wealth in modern civilizations is more often than not created during times of significant economic crisis. Opportunities abound for those organizations that are truly strategic…” Dr. John Sullivan, The Economic Downturn.

Here are three lessons from corporate transformation efforts that could help:

Transformation doesn’t come from doing what you are currently doing better. Real change requires honestly looking at your business model in the context of current realities. It isn’t just about doing what you are doing differently. It involves a sharp departure from business as usual — stopping some initiatives, and starting others.

1. Start small. Step-by-step change builds confidence.  Get some early successes before expanding efforts.
2. Invest in the human side of transformation.   Don’t challenge employees beyond their capacities. Invest in building human capital. Engage your team – bring in inspiring, fresh mindset and gain agreement on the need for and the approach to  change

Seizing Opportunities

In face of the above changes, progressive businesses are seizing the opportunities. They are looking to innovate, reinvent and use the recession to build their new business model.

Saul Berman, Global Lead Partner of IBM’s Strategy and Change Services suggested:

“Changing times require new business strategies …This is a time to build future capabilities…. The winners are going to reapply certain assets, curtail some things and free up those assets to invest elsewhere.”

Will your company meet the challenge?