Growth has always been fundamental to business success, but it’s never been more critical than it is now, nor more difficult. Every opportunity is global, but so is the competition.
Evolving customer expectations and technology are the norm, forcing every company, from startups to large enterprises, to innovate quickly, despite their fear of change, uncertainty, and doubt.
As a long-time business advisor, I believe the mantra that every owner needs to live by today is to disrupt their own business before someone else does it for them.
You must capitalize on the uncertainties in your market, rather than letting the unknowns slow you down. You need the commitment of every team member to respond quickly and effectively to emerging opportunities.
I found these points made well in a new book, “Fearless Growth,” by Amanda Setili, who has worked with disruptive technology startups in the United States and Malaysia, as well as some of the biggest companies in the world.
She offers seven imperatives, which I espouse, for companies of any size to achieve record growth, and I paraphrase them here:
- Embrace uncertainty and risk, rather than repeatability.
Traditionally, businesses have yearned for consistency, as a lever tor productivity and cutting costs.
Today the market and competitive landscape are changing so fast that the best lever to growth is the ability to anticipate and adapt to change, to beat competitors and excite customers.
- Get in sync with customers by frequent customer interaction.
Seek direct customer feedback, via social media and personal interactions, rather than old market research. Products and services must be updated continuously; not one major annual upgrade.
Enable customers to customize your offerings, and learn from the choices they make.
- Continually look outside for talent, data, and technology.
In the past, companies avoided sharing knowledge or technology, preferring stealth mode and relying on internal expertise to stay safe.
We now see that leveraging the ideas and capabilities outside your organization will grow opportunities and reduce risk faster, rather than increasing risk.
- Connect and strengthen your customer ecosystem.
Modern growth companies, such as Salesforce.com, have found great leverage value in hosting events to have their customers learn from each other, as well as from channel partners and complementary application providers. Attempts to control communication only slow down progress.
- Create cross-functional teams to attack opportunities.
These open the floodgates of employee creativity. The best growth companies enable employees to choose their own job, and grant them the leeway to get the work done.
They connect employees across organizational silos, and establish fast feedback loops to facilitate learning and change.
- Pursue growth opportunities outside your comfort zone.
Instead of limiting your scope to current in-house capabilities, set clear objectives of acquiring new talent and skills each period, and make learning new skills a prime objective for every employee.
This facilitates change and makes new opportunities attractive rather than frightening.
- Recognize the impact of trust on efficiency and speed.
Take deliberate action to build trust, and be a personal role model. Encourage and expect healthy conflict, debate, and dissent. The result is better decisions, more consensus, and accelerated business growth.
Trust is heightened by showing appreciation regularly for individual contributions.
The objective of these imperatives is to help you stimulate continuous and fearless growth, even in turbulent markets, by staying more competitive, fostering innovation, and dominating your space.
The time to start is now, if you didn’t start yesterday. Set and communicate clear priorities for your implementation, and don’t let “the way things have always been done” stand in your way.
The author is Founder and CEO, Startup Professionals
