Marketing advice
Keep it steady
Vigilance is key in good and bad times, says Martin Allison, who reveals five key tips to controlled growth
When you first decided to start your own company (franchised or otherwise), you most likely did a lot of research using various sources, such as reading books on becoming an entrepreneur, taking a few classes on starting-up in business, talking to other successful entrepreneurs, etc. When your company is established and growing, you are probably concerned with one further question, "how do I stay on top of my growing company?"
When we started franchising The Alternative Board in the UK we were aware that the business coaching/consulting market was experiencing a period of high demand. By following industry best practices and ‘good housekeeping' we are fortunate to have grown by word of mouth recommendation despite the credit crunch and difficult economic times. Our company, through prudence and vigilance, has managed to avoid any major pitfalls and is now looking forward to further expansion serving the thriving market for white collar professional franchisees.
Throughout our set-up and growth period there are five key lessons we've learned and employed to get TAB off to an excellent start. As your company experiences high growth again we recommend keeping these lessons in mind:
1. Keep track of your cash flow. Never let go of sound financial concepts (eg, cash is king) and the importance of strong budgeting and cash management. Without the process of checks and balances, you could find yourself being very wasteful on where money is spent. This often happens during periods of strong growth, when it is more likely that more ‘extreme' financial decisions are made because you are comforted by perceived opportunity.
2. Know your competitors. What are you doing that differentiates your company from your competitors, in the minds of your customers? Make sure your value proposition is strong for your clients whilst continuing to contribute to your company. Always be aware of what your competitors are doing. Are they currently doing something you never considered, or are they doing something you know your company could do better? Do you need to enhance any of the products or services you offer to clients and do you have the resources to develop new products? Consider their mistakes as well-you can learn from these too and hopefully avoid making them?
3. Always market. Constantly evaluate your marketing plan. Even during expansionary times enabled by an integrated mix of clever marketing activities, there may be some tactics that may be wasteful or less effective. Stay on top of what is working and what is not; by having key performance metrics, you will be able to measure their effectiveness.
4. Communicate with and reward your employees. Reward your people for contributing to this time of strong growth. Make sure they are well aware of how vital their daily contributions are to the company's success. Also, make sure you are communicating with everyone about how they feel during this growing period. Are they comfortable with handling a larger workload? Are they feeling overwhelmed or stressed out? How do your team members feel about existing in rapid growth - do they enjoy it as much as you? What can be done to help alleviate additional stress that inevitably comes along with strong growth?
5. Resist the urge to become complacent. When you are experiencing times of strong growth and things are going well, it is easy to let both your team and yourself sit back and become ‘complacent.' Beware of starting to believe your own press, it's very easy to start spiraling downwards. Just because your company is doing well now doesn't mean it always will. Please be ever vigilant and restless for the benefit of your customers, employees, family and self. Your journey to success and fulfillment never stops.
