Business Growth Strategies

Business Growth Strategies For Companies of All Sizes & Levels of Complexity

Since 1995 we at The Halpin Companies have been able to facilitate business growth strategies for a variety of companies in a variety or industries. Our clients historically brought us in to facilitate a CEO or key leader transition or to help the founders be strategic about making their exit. Regardless of the original purpose of the engagement, across the board, we’ve been able to help our clients accelerate the growth of their companies by using our proprietary business growth strategies.

Our proprietary methods are based on simple, practical, but not always easy approaches. Business growth strategies are not complicated. However, they do require leaders to be open to using new and different approaches. What got you hear won’t get you there” according to Marshall Goldsmith, the noted leadership guru.

In order to be strategic about growing a business, a few key things must occur.

First and foremost, we must have a clear assessment of the current reality. What are the motivations of the shareholders? What roles are people currently playing? What expectations do the shareholders have about the continuation of the company beyond their own leadership? Who aspires to assume more leadership within the company and are they positioned properly? What is the current level of leadership and management effectiveness of each key executive and manager? What specific strengths does each key player possess? Do these key players demonstrate behaviors on a daily basis that indicate they are ‘walking their talk’ with the purpose and mission of the organization and their own strengths and values?

Once this information can be gathered, leaders can start to formulate next steps. These next steps must include developing a Vision for any transition or transaction. Do the shareholders want to focus intentionally on the growth? How much growth? How will this growth be measured? Revenues, Profits, Shareholder Value?   Business growth strategies require clarity. Without clarity of vision, you have chaos.

Erika Andersen eloquently shares in her book, Leading So People Will Follow, Steve Jobs ‘ high degree of skill in providing this clarity of vision, or what she calls farsightedness.

‘One stunning example of this kind of farsightedness is how Steve Jobs operated at the start of Apple. When Jobs and Wozniak founded Apple Computers in 1976, the personal computer was still new and untested. Moreover, the idea that almost everyone would one day have a computer and that computers would be as accessible and easy-to-use as televisions or telephones seemed like craziness.

But then along came these two young men with exactly these ideas. And Jobs, especially, continued to articulate this possible future in a way that brought together capital, a workforce, and a marketing plan that ultimately led to the achievement of the future he envisioned thirty-five years ago.

The essence of farsightedness is not only envisioning a possible successful future but also articulate it in a way that’s both compelling and inclusive. Compelling means that it’s meaningful to those who hear it, that it’s attractive to them. Inclusive means they want to help make it happen and feel they can have an important part to play in moving toward it.

Clearly Steve Jobs was able to express his vision for the future in this way. In January 1984, when Jobs introduced the first Macintosh computer at Apple’s annual shareholders’ meeting, an attendee described the level of enthusiasm as “pandemonium.” As the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface, the Macintosh represented, and still represents, the realization of a vision that was both compelling and inclusive.

Will this shareholder value occur through acquisitions, mergers or organically within the company? Often, we recommend initially experimenting with two approaches simultaneously to ‘test the waters’. Different leaders will be inclined to be successful within different models and it’s important to assess each key leaders ability to move productively through change and even chaos.

According to Nelson Mandela, “Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world.  Don’t let your company’s growth potential by stymied by incongruence of your visions, plans and business growth strategies.

For more information about our 100-Day Program and the six components that accelerate growth, using our proprietary business growth strategies, please contact Katharine Halpin at 602-266-1961 or via email at [email protected] Follow Katharine on Twitter at KatharineHalpin and LinkedIn.  For more information about how to build alignment at all levels of your organization, read Katharine’s book, Alignment for Success: Bringing Out the Best in Yourself, Your Teams and Your Company.

If you are preparing for a merger, acquisition or organic growth, contact us for a complimentary, confidential consultation!

 

 

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