The Breakthrough Company, # 2
from Venture Beat.com 3/11 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 04/14
Crowning the Company. Founder/CEOs need to focus their employees on the company’s success rather than the founder’s success. As organizations grow, the organization’s ideas, decisions, & employees need to focus on building the company. That’s their business & mission. Key areas to focus on include:
• Put the Customer first. [go beyond their expectations]
• Aim high to motivate the best employees. [Recognize & Reward
• Shift from “commander” to coach. [Get everyone involves (as much as possible) in the decision making process)]
• Don’t let loyalty (to under-performers) become a liability. [Think of what’s good for the company, the other employees (Is an under-performer hurting them?]
• Encourage “open” communication (so all ideas, problems are shared & acted upon immediately).
• Avoid excessive Management Perks that separate management from other employees (by giving good ones to employees too).
• Share Ownership. (by giving out Stock and/or Profit-sharing)
Upping the Ante – Most companies start by finding and exploiting an un-addressed niche. To become a market leader, Founder/CEOs need to find market “opportunities” that let them expand into broader markets or adjacent markets. Ones that are smart and relate to the core business.
The Bermuda Triangle – Small companies succeed by being nimble. Their size lets them deliver high quality customer service (since they don’t have too many customers); deliver low cost products (through sweat equity, hard work, & heroic efforts); and deliver quickly, with an individual or small, focused teams. As the business grows, all these advantages dissipate. So growth companies need to invest in structural adjustments that make large size an advantage. This may take Capital Investment – an area in which boot-strapped founders often run into trouble. They need to differentiate between keeping all costs low and increasing capital or Operating Expenses – in order to keep product costs low.
[ Scaffolding, Insultants, Applied Knowledge in final Premium Content ]