RULES OF THE ROAD
Rules of The Road
For
Small Business
The road is long, with many a winding turns…
Following the Rules of the Road Keep You Focused on Success
What if you were able to have a score card with the 5 critical things on which you need to focus? Every business person appreciates the ability to focus on the right things at the right time. I’ve listed 2 of the 5 most critical initiatives. If you want all 5 you need to call for your customized X-ray!
Stage 1: 1 to 10 employees
- Generate, track and preserve cash
- Focus 80% of your resources on selling the 2 – 3 offerings with the best margins
Stage 2: 11 to 19 employees
- Sell absolutely every day
- Develop, without fail, three employees to be responsible, accountable and proactive
Stage 3: 20 to 34 employees
- Without fail, clarify and strengthen any and all communication with your employees
- Delegate responsibility and authority to capable supervisors and meet with them regularly
Stage 4: 35 to 57 employees
- Hire of effectively train professional department managers who are responsible, accountable and proactive
- Establish a strict company project management template
The tasks you don’t get done in your current stage of growth will simply not just go away. The ramifications of NOT completing the Rules of the Road for each stage of growth will present at the least opportune time. The rules in each stage of growth need to be addressed and if they aren’t, you will face them again as you move to the next stage of growth.
Stage 5: 58 to 95 employees
- Integrate the management team into an inter-dependent, executive-focused leadership unit
- Establish a fully integrated living budget by revenue group and by department
Stage 6: 96 to 160 employees:
- Without fail, establish a two to three day new staff orientation
- Without fail, secure regular one-on-one supervisor/employee meetings
Stage 7: 161 to 350 employees:
- Overhaul the business model to optimize direction and margins
- Set up an enterprise management/leadership succession system.
Growing a business demands every minute of your energy, resources and brain power. The good news is you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. By understanding your stage of growth, by knowing what the rules of the road are for each stage of growth, you will have headlights to help you navigate the curves and get ahead of the growth curve.
The 7 Stages of Growth were developed by James Fischer, Founder of Origin Institute, a research and consulting company out of Boulder, CO. The Stages of Growth are based on a nine year study of entrepreneurial companies in the Front Range and Silicon Valley and interviews with over 700 CEOs to understand and decipher the patterns, the behavior and the characteristics of growth in entrepreneurial enterprises.
