My job entails getting to know companies, their technologies, their goals and objectives, and helping them reach their ultimate end points. I have to understand them from my “lay” perspective and then I get to introduce them to people I know who can help fill gaps or enhance their objectives; advise them on growth and development strategies in sales, marketing/communications, market dominance/thought leadership strategies, and investor strategies. I LOVE my career!
In the world of “corporate survival of the fittest” I see frequent patterns and tendencies that positively or maybe not so positively affect the growth process of a company.
It is my opinion that young companies especially, should have a constant stream of outside and market input. I believe companies/people (any size) lose their ability to objectively see or hear how they are connecting/not connecting to their various audiences along their development pathway when they have limited real-live, outside, informational “feeds” and interaction. They become too close to their science or technology, their staff, and they lose the objectivity they may need to make pivotal decisions along the way. I feel this is a pattern that is certain to limit logical growth or at best, facilitate growth based on “oops.” Governance boards and investors should be more concerned about this, in my opinion.
Outlined below are a few my views on “oops growth” indicators (not in order of importance):
- The company knows everyone they need to know, has everything they need , and knows exactly what they need to do at all times (perception is ones reality)
- The company has few/no consultants (breathing recycled air over and over)
- The company has too many full time staff for their stage of development (plug and play works very well up to a point, in my opinion)
- Executive team consists of family and/or college buddies…seldom advisable or successful (Not MY kid-syndrome)
- Executive team mentors each other vs. outside mentoring (I actually had a CEO tell me that he/she alone was mentoring their junior team in IR/Public company, marketing, sales, etc!)
- Executive team is too busy to attend professional seminars or conferences where they can be inspired by outside/current resources and trends, and peers
- Strategic planning is sometimes done, not always
- Suggestion on strategic planning: If the company works with consultants on strategic planning please:
- Participate
- Communicate with the consultant consistently throughout the process
- Provide feedback DURING the process
- Take final ownership of the process and subsequent product
- Note: Feedback is a tool to improve a process. Feedback given AFTER the process is an attack and ultimately strangles the initiative and alienates the project lead which ultimately costs the company time and money, not to mention the invaluable insight of a fresh view
- MARKETING is more than just a great looking web site, logo, and business card:
- This area is a HUGE area of oversight in my experience
- Is started too late in the game
- Is underfunded
- Is poorly staffed/improperly staffed
- Communications…if no one is talking about you, no one knows about=no one cares about you
- Investor relationships…your shareholders may be real people with real reasons they have invested in your company. Treat them like the valued owner they are. Without them YOU don’t exist!
- Sales…support your sales team with all of the above. If the company doesn’t have a well-rounded IR program, communications, and market position, the sales team has to improvise on ALL these aspects before ever getting to the product or service they are there to sell
- I'd avoid cutting the R&D budget (Life is fluid…never standing still! Technology and science is always changing)
- Exit Strategy: why, why, why do so many young companies think a bigger company is going to snatch up their brilliance before they go into Phase III?
- Prepare every aspect of being a stand-alone company indefinitely
- Here’s a really tough one…few CEO’s have the necessary skill set for each and every stage of development. To the detriment of the company leadership that stays beyond their peak contribution can make growth painful and slow or possibly strangle success.
I know this is a long list of “oops growth” trends but there is a corresponding list of logical growth points as well. I’ll continue with that list in the next blog.
Chelli Miller
President/Owner
ChelliConnects, LLC
A strategic advisory service…Connecting your dots
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