Dynamic Business

People
You must surround yourself with people that are better than yourself. It’s about having the right people in the business. We are only as good as our team and people. These are all great sentiments, but does the business really possess the type of talent it needs for the current challenges? This is a very difficult area and not due to high employment or the inability to find ‘good’ people. It’s about finding the right people for the phase of growth the business is currently in. My experience in building national and international businesses has reinforced this as the most important aspect of managing serious growth. The price of incompetence or a lack of the required skills is too high.

Be prepared to move people out of the business if they are not suited rather than finding them a home. Play to people’s strengths and be prepared to realise it is not always about years in business or age.

Big Dad’s has gone through a process of progressing beyond the early management structure to build a team that is more suited to growing a business in a fast growth phase. Without this decision, the business would risk stagnation and fail to address the priorities that have been clearly identified at the board and management level. The formation of a board structure has provided the business with the necessary structure to prioritise and set direction for the business in a very strong phase of expansion.

Execution
The combination of priority management and the right type of people in the business goes a long way towards ensuring any strategy or idea is executed. In reality, during times of serious growth the priority and people provide a solid foundation for execution. How many ideas do you hear in a day where you simply know the moment you walk out of the meeting, nothing will happen?

One of the core challenges of managing serious growth is the prioritisation of the idea at the outset. The massive challenge that we all struggle with is to execute a single idea well across the appropriate areas of the business. How much resource and training went into Boost to ensure every member of staff asks your name at the time of order? How much time did McDonald’s spend on asking customers if they would like to upsize their meal? It is a very difficult process to execute well and particularly when you consider the decisions of today are often not what the business needs tomorrow.

Few will remember, but Boost did have a multi-brand strategy very early in the serious growth of the Australian business with Tossers Salad Bar, which was eventually closed. This has not stopped Boost from deploying the multi-brand strategy later, but at a more appropriate time in its growth cycle.

Conclusion
Manage serious growth in your business by assessing the key areas of priority management, people and execution. It will go a long way towards driving a higher level of performance, particularly if you consider the phase the business is in.

–Adrian McFedries is managing director of DC Strategy (www.dcstrategy.com). The region’s leading specialist consulting and legal firm. Its specialist strategy, legal, franchising and international teams have developed the networks and brands of many of the region’s most successful businesses.