Dando Advisors

Are Core Values Overrated?

I recently had the privilege of working with a company that is wildly successful by anyone’s standard. Even in this economy, it’s growing rapidly, has a culture that attracts the best talent, is winning award after award in its industry, and has a CEO who was named local business leader of the year. 

This company is clearly on its way up The Business Lifecycle™ (an approximation of how successful businesses scale and some of the problems — The Top 12 Warning Signs of Success™ — they encounter).

However, after meeting with several of the company’s key leaders and employees, it occurred to me that although they had some very clear short-term objectives and were driving the company toward iconic levels of short-term success, the core values, or what I call the  SOUL, and ultimately the long-term success, of the company was in danger of being compromised, due, ironically, to its hyper-growth.

When I say SOUL, I’m not talking about the “soul” that is drenched in marketing jargon and marched out to… Read More >

Will Any of The Top 12 Warning Signs of Success™ Kill Your Growth?

As a company matures, it often experiences subtle but very troubling growing pains (The Top 12 Warning Signs of Success™). As you might expect, these growth tremors are amplified in a depressed market. Compounding the situation, management, in its haste to maintain growth, often fixes its gaze outward on the environment and toward the future, hoping perhaps that more precise market projections and better ‘relational selling’ tactics will provide the organization with the impetus it needs to go to the next level of performance.

All the while, the company may overlook the Overly Obvious and Embarrassingly Simple repairs it needs to mature and stabilize.

The current market dynamics offer the perfect time to refocus and redefine you and your company’s success strategies. Generally, companies tend to pass through a series of developmental phases (The Business Lifecycle™) as they mature. Transitions between these phases do not always occur naturally or smoothly, regardless of the strength or expertise of top management.

Unfortunately, as a company reaches the point where it needs to move into the next phase of development, it… Read More >

Where’s your company on The Business Lifecycle™?

Part 1 in a Series of 4

The Business Lifecycle™ is a model that enables business leaders to identify the level of performance at which their business is operating and to determine exactly what needs to be done to move that business to the next level.

The Business Lifecycle™ is based on my and many other’s years of experience and is an approximation of how successful businesses grow and some of the problems (The Top 12 Warning Signs of Success™) they encounter in their efforts to become what I call a mature, financially stable, professionally managed and led business (Level III).  From my experience this should be the objective of all growth hungry businesses.

By having a sensitivity and general understanding of the stages of development in The Business Lifecycle™ managers  will be in a position to predict problems and thereby prepare solutions and coping strategies to help the company go to the next level before a crisis gets out of hand.

Companies tend to pass through a series of predictable developmental phases as they mature.  Transitions between these phases… Read More >

The Level I Company: "Entrepreneurial Startup"

Part 2 in a series of 4

Below are the characteristics and warning signs of a Level I Company, the Entrepreneurial Startup. This is the first of three defined company stages as part of The Business Lifecycle.™
 

CHARACTERISTICS

• The founders are usually actively involved in running the company.
• The primary emphasis is on producing products or services and selling them.
• Management, systems and planning receive minimal emphasis.
• Communication is informal.
• Employees work long hours and are paid modest salaries.
• Management reacts more to customer needs than to employee needs.
• The founders are either technically oriented or market builders and are usually not skilled managers.
• The company culture – the non-negotiable values and how to treat customers and each other – is generally understood and does not require a lot of reinforcement.
• The growth is greater than inflation but usually slow to moderate.

As a company matures, it often experiences subtle but very troubling growing pains.  Compounding the situation, management, in its haste to maintain growth, often fixes its gaze outward on the environment and toward the future, hoping that more precise market projections and higher sales… Read More >

The Level II Company: "Rapid Growth"

Part 3 in a Series of 4

Below are the characteristics and warning signs of a Level II Company, the “Rapid Growth” stage. This is the second of three defined company stages as part of The Business Lifecycle™.
 
 
 
 
 
 
CHARACTERISTICS

• A capable leader is at the company helm (Level I growing pain resolved).
• The business often has multiple locations, such as: 
  • Sales offices
  • Branch offices
  • Warehouses
  • Etc
• More detailed attention is given to certain areas (in addition to producing products or services and selling them), such as:
  • Marketing and sales
  • Inventory management
  • Personnel
  • Accounting, budgeting and finance
  • Systems support
• Employee jobs are more specialized.
• The company becomes more impersonal due to having more employees.
• The growth rate is faster than Level I; sometimes accelerating at a very fast rate.
• The company culture – non-negotiable values and ways of treating the customer and each other – start to need to be communicated and reinforced in words and actions that match.

Usually one or more problems block a successful company’s transition to a higher… Read More >

The Level III Company: "Market Leader"

Part 4 in a Series of 4

Below are the characteristics and warning signs of a Level III Company, a Market Leader. This is the third of three defined company stages as part of The Business Lifecycle™.

 CHARACTERISTICS:

• Aligned executive and middle management teams are in place and are staffed with qualified people and accountability is clear and well-managed. (Level II crisis is resolved).
• The company’s business niche is clearly defined and its products and services fit the niche.
• The company has an identify beyond the founder(s)’ and current leader’s (CEO).
• The company has well-defined and communicated short-term and intermediate term strategies and plans, which are being followed.
• Managers (executive and middle) are doing more managing (working ‘on’ the business) than technical work (working ‘in’ the business). They are focused on developing systems, accountability and people that will allow the business to scale.
• Unproductive/unprofitable products and services are phased out.
• Market research, development and planning is timely and competent in regard to:
• • Products
  • Services
  • Customer base
  • Geographic coverage
  • Competition
• Competent staff, management and leadership development processes are in place:

… Read More >