You’ve started a company. You had a good idea, a good vision, you probably wanted to do it differently, and above all, better. How cool is it then that your company is growing!
And at the same time, you realize that a growing business requires a different approach. When I work with entrepreneurs from rapidly growing organizations, it’s important to have a few crucial pillars in place. Here’s an overview: 5 pillars for rapidly growing businesses.
1st: Finding Top Talent
As the company grows, hiring the right people becomes even more crucial. Often I see that people are hired too quickly. Or that the existing team gets more and more work on their shoulders, with all the consequences that entails. It’s important to work on a well-founded recruiting plan. When selecting the right candidates, it’s not only about function, knowledge, and experience, but also about behavior and motivations. And above all: how does this fit into the existing culture or the desired culture. At this stage, not all employees necessarily need to be hired as permanent employees. You can also create a flexible layer of independent business partners (physically or virtually). But also make sure to select carefully.
2nd: Retaining Top Talent
If you’ve found good employees, it’s also essential to retain them. That may sound like stating the obvious, but nothing could be further from the truth. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, employees often don’t get the attention they need. And they can feel lost or too little involved in the development of the company. And this has nothing to do with seniority; feeling like you belong and being listened to is a basic need. Maintaining your company culture during the rapid growth of the organization requires careful preparation and training for employees. And employees above all appreciate having clarity about goals, structure, performance criteria, etc. How do you do this? Think about: an employee handbook, an ‘onboarding program’, assigning a buddy, offering training and coaching.
3rd: Clear Communication
When a company is still small, everyone often talks to each other. And everyone is usually aware of what’s going on and what needs to be done. And that usually becomes more difficult with (rapid) growth. It takes time to structurally think about how to communicate. When is what communicated and how? And this requires strong leadership. With many management teams, we developed structured communication moments with employees. Not only do employees receive information about progress, changes, etc., but this is also the moment to listen to what concerns employees and answer questions. This way, the management also knows what’s going on.
4th: Cash Flow Management
One of the biggest challenges for rapidly growing organizations is cash flow. With rapid business growth, the cash position often comes under pressure. Therefore, it’s crucial from the beginning to make forecasts based on current and expected growth and to have a clear understanding of the cash flow. Is there a good cash flow analysis? Is the invoicing accurate and in order? Accounts receivable management? Are expenditures scrutinized critically? Do the costs contribute to (the growth of) your company or to the ego? Cash flow management is one of the most important pillars. And if you don’t do that yourself (or can’t), it’s an excellent role for your (internal or external) financial man or woman. This way, you know in time what the challenges are or could be, because you’re better able to anticipate. Monitor this weekly and sometimes daily and ensure frequent forecasts and reports.
5th: Walk the Walk
We all know it: so busy managing your business, keeping all the balls in the air, balancing family life. You can have it all sorted out perfectly, but… if you don’t have a role model and don’t embody it, you can never expect your employees to work according to the rules. Walk the talk: Do what you say and say what you do. And if you find that difficult as an entrepreneur? Then get coached! Find someone to help you with that.
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Or read the latest book: “My Best Team Ever! In 7 Steps to Golden Leadership“.
