By John A. Haas
Management Strategies Group
You've taken the leap into entrepreneurship. You decided to leverage your technical (marketing, financial, systems, operational, etc.) experience into running your own show, and have started, bought or inherited a small company to pursue the dream!
Scaling "Growth Walls"
As management consultant Harvy Simkovits points out in a thoughtful Boston Business Journal article, you will likely need to call upon somewhat different management emphases as your company grows from start-up to mid-size maturity. The following table summarizes these emphases at different growth stages:
|
Management
Emphasis (Size) |
Some
Primary Focuses |
|
Systemize
(<$1M) |
·
Resource
acquisition ·
Develop
operating systems and procedures ·
Organize
into separate functions ·
Prepare
to attract and retain committed employees |
|
Coordinate
and Monitor ($5-$12M) |
·
Formalize
planning and budgeting ·
Emphasize
reporting, financial controls and performance goals ·
Build
a management team |
|
Create/Align
Business Units (>$20M) |
·
Move
from functional to business unit structure (along product lines or market
niches) ·
Create
cross-functional teams re product development, quality, service, process
improvement ·
Understand
and manage culture; provide leadership |
Calming Entrepreneurial Concerns
With growth comes realization that organizations grow faster than do people. At some point(s) in the growth curve, the CEO/entrepreneur intent on running all aspects of the business risks becoming an obstacle. Letting go is tougher for some than others, but it's critical to realize that a trusted talented team of energized, committed people can carry an organization much further than can any individual, even if (s)he is the founder/owner. The trick is putting in place the information reporting and control systems that allow monitoring progress, and then stepping aside to lead rather than directly manage the effort.
April 1999 - Volume 9, Number 2