Are you just Growing or Scaling Up?

It’s crucial to know if you are simply growing every year or scaling up. And once you know, how do you get into the scale-up mode? How do you make the entire company good at what you were initially good at i.e. systematize the delivery of the value proposition? Few pointers:

1. Certain manual repetitive efforts like billing can be replaced with set processes and systems for higher efficiency together with IT enablement (computerised billing).

2. The Talent of the Entrepreneur can be translated to his A team in each department to ensure Value delivery is in sync

3. High Touch interactions with clients can be set up by having skilled workforce and standardised training to ensure all talk the same language

But why is it tough for entrepreneurs to switch to the scale-up mode?

1. You’ve had Good people who have stayed with you so far. But are they the Right people for their job? Replacing Good people with the Right people is the first challenge you will face.

2. Negotiating ground rules with the Right people on what culture and methods will prevail going forward is a tipping point. So far you’ve had ‘yes’ men but now you need to convince senior management professionals who are not acquainted with your style of working.

3. Acquiring new skills and being abreast with the new disruptive technology has been a big challenge for the Entrepreneurs today in this ever-changing world.

4. The mind-set that training people is a worthless investment of time and that they should know what they are supposed to deliver just because you are paying them salary.

If you can overcome these initial challenges and blend the people with systematic processes, your company will soon enter into the scale-up mode.