Navigating the business Bermuda Triangle

This is the fifth of a six post series related to our Breakthrough Company Event at the GIE.   

One of the biggest challenges to business success is keeping small when you get big.  

We all know companies lose something as they grow.  Maybe it’s the personal touch with the owner. Or talking to one person to handle orders and returns. Or being able to get on a schedule when you want. These small company advantages are great selling points for the little guy. But they are impossible to maintain as success turns into more sales and growth.  

Inside The "Business Bermuda Triangle." 

So growth pushes companies into a mysterious zone we call the Business Bermuda Triangle. It's here where businesses lose their ability to give 1) customers what they want, 2) quickly and 3) at low cost.

In other words, when a company finds themselves in the Business Bermuda Triangle their 1) customer satisfaction is low, 2) their service is slow and 3) their costs grow.  

It's not a place you want your business to be in for long.

How To Get Out Of The Business Bermuda Triangle.

This is where the breakthrough company has to PLAN how to navigate the Business Bermuda Triangle… and make the business and investment choices to turn small company “inherent” advantages into large company “sustaining” advantages.

To provide the customer what they want delivery costs and speed must be addressed…  as well as systems that measure the customer’s experience as follows:

1. Migrate from (a) lower-cost high performance labor (superstar reliant), and (b) low overhead staffing structure (few people) to react quickly and consistently.  The breakthrough company has to move from cost reduction to cost optimization using systems and processes.
2. Migrate from recovery to anticipation.  It is easier to lose and recover a customer when smaller, but his becomes very expensive as you grow.  Again systems and processes that monitor customer satisfaction provide data for staff to win at the retention game.
3. Migrate to software that provides speedy and accurate information.  Larger companies simply cannot rely on superstars (there are not enough of them).  They must rely on ordinary people performing in extraordinary ways consistently and intelligently.

NOTE:  This is why we built Aspire business management software – to provide the computer systems and processes that make the extraordinary become the norm.  The result:  happier employees and customers.

Lastly as the breakthrough company makes investments in systems and staffing to scale revenues, they should avoid thoughts of diversification which can harm the primary product and service experience at this key stage.