Setting up a new business to soar starts with the right team on the ground. Never underestimate the value of industry expertise and complementary strengths. When Maria Esther Martinez, an engineer, set out to develop Aerosens, a Miami-based technology startup serving the aviation industry, she had corporate and startup experience. […]
Growth Stages
Chaos reigns – but does it always have to?
Chaotic periods can destabilize a small business, and sometimes it doesn’t take much. Some of it is just part of the company’s growing pains. Isn’t this a familiar scenario? Your sales are coming in fast and furiously but you don’t have the staff to handle it. Perhaps your sales cycle […]
A strategic growth plan is not that thing you look at once a year. Here’s how to get started.
Goals, goals, goals – we all have them, but did your company hit them last year? How about for the first quarter of 2019? What are your growth goals for Q2 for all of your function areas and does everyone in your company know what they are? If your company […]
If you aren’t careful, ‘you can sell your way to bankruptcy’
On a recent Shark Tank episode, celebrity investors Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner teamed up to invest in BottleKeeper, which sells a stainless steel container created to keep glass beer bottles cold while protecting them from breakage. But during the episode, Cuban questioned why the business needed his cool million, since it […]
You’re growing fast – that’s great. Just make sure you are putting systems and processes in place.
NeoBroadband, a broadband communications business, sells equipment to cable companies. The Miami-based business’s market is Latin America. The executive team, which launched the small business about five years ago, has more than 50 years of combined experience in the industry. That’s because the founders all came from another company in […]
How will your business grow in the future? Understanding that is key.
Paul van Hamond peddled his cold-pressed juices all over the place. A few sales sales here, some sales there, but that strategy wasn’t working so well. Now he focuses his sales mainly on high-end hotels. His Expressed Juice line can be found in Edition East, W Hotel, Four Seasons, Nautilus […]
Stage 7 – Disequilibrium and chaos: Friend or foe?
Stage 7 (161-500 employees) Ever heard the phrase: “You can capture a wild duck, but you can’t make a tame duck wild?” At this stage of growth, with 161 to 500 employees, there’s a strong tendency for a leader to professionalize the company and inadvertently crush the entrepreneurial spirit that […]
Stage 6 – Longer view focus now critical
Stage 6 Company (96-160 employees) Stage 6, with 96 to 160 employees, requires a longer, more strategic focus for the leader and a laser-like focus on your ability to connect to your employees. You can no longer afford to be all things to all people. Your ability to differentiate yourself […]
Stage 5 – Integration: Planning with purpose is key to success
Stage 5 Company (58-95 employees) Planning is a critical aspect of any business’s success. But planning for planning sake will not a company make. You have to be able to identify the key decisions that must be made — and know when to make them. Think in terms of kicking […]
Stage 4 – Ignite your company’s intelligence by hiring professional managers
Stage 4 Company (35-57 employees) The fourth stage of company growth (35 to 57 staff) is called the Professional Stage. This is the time you need to focus on hiring experienced managers who have been there, done that. Your company has outgrown your ability to keep all those balls in […]
