By, Steve Finkelstein – Senior Partner
Steve Finkelstein, Senior Partner, was the keynote speaker for the Small Business Monthly Top 50 Companies recognition luncheon last month. His educational, interactive and entertaining presentation addressed the twelve key areas to assess growth readiness. A Booz & Company study revealed that only 17 percent of companies are poised for a profitable growth future. This statistics is consistent with our experience working with many companies of different size and industries.
When Steve asked the audience “How many companies have plans and want to grow?”, most of the attendees raised their hand. Yet, when asked “How many companies really know when they are ready to grow?”, only a few raised their hand. The presentation goal was to get companies ready so they can be part of the 17%.
How would you answer some of the following key questions about growth?
- Why do you want to grow?
- When do you want to grow?
- How much do you want to grow?
- What is the business case for growth?
- What is your growth strategy?
To learn about the 12 Critical Growth Readiness Areas and complete your own personal assessment, click this link to go to the survey or print the following content to work through the 12 Critical Growth Readiness Areas.
12 CRITICAL GROWTH READINESS AREAS
The following are the twelve critical growth success factors. How would you assess your organization on a scale from 1 to 4?
1 = Major Issue, 2 = Issue, 3 = Good Shape, 4 = Excellent Shape
- Talent Management Strategy: Recruiting, development, engagement and retention strategy? Do you have the right people on the bus in the right seat? Get the wrong people off the bus fast?
- Change Management: Do you know where you are on the Change Curve and the impacts of your future growth?
- Growth Strategy: Do you have a complete growth strategy?
- Infrastructure Support: Do you have the right supporting infrastructure – processes, policies/procedures, technology?
- Competitive Understanding: Do you understand your competition – your competitive advantage today and tomorrow?
- Future Trend Impacts: Do you understand the future trends and their impacts on your business – both positive and negative?
- SWOT Analysis: Do you understand your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)? Do you have action plans for each SWOT area?
- Issue/Risk Mitigation: Do you know the top 1-3 current issues facing your company today and plans to address them? How about your top 1-3 future risks?
- Mistake Avoidance: What is the biggest mistake you must avoid going forward?
- Financials: Do you have a good understanding of your future cash flow and capital needs? Do you have accurate, timely, assessable information for analysis to help make informed decisions?
- Measurement: Do you use the Balanced Scorecard concept using financial, customer, operations and talent management measures?
- Execution Discipline: Do you have the skills, experience, and discipline for execution? Do you have a culture of accountability for meeting deadlines?
Now that you have worked through your assessment, the question is: “Are You Ready For Growth?”
For more information or if you have any questions please contact Steve Finkelstein at steve.finkelstein@experience-on-demand.com or call him at (314) 409-6869.