Category Archives: Growth!

Budget from the top down or bottom up? A puzzle.

Here’s the argument: Many people believe that bottom-up budgeting leads to waste and misdirection. The advocates of top-down budgeting are strong in their belief that if you give each person or department no guidance, they will budget to their wants … Continue reading

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What can go wrong with your business growth?

So, your business has begun to take off. You’ve figured out your channels of distribution, pricing model and how to support your growing list of customers.  Don’t be alarmed by this next statement.  That’s relatively easy. You can be the … Continue reading

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Premature scaling can kill your business.

Here’s a lesson from experience. Venture capitalists sometimes make an error in directing their portfolio company CEOs to push resources to the limit and scale the business to immense size quickly, all to seize market share.  The logic in this … Continue reading

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Five ways to make and execute a great plan

It is all about execution. Waiting over a year to see results is too long, since your chance of mid-course correction is greatly reduced.  To make the point, Harvard’s Robert Kaplan believes that less than 10% of corporate strategies are … Continue reading

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How big is your ocean? A lesson in TAM, SAM & SOM

Is this a problem or an opportunity? This insight is like a Hans Christian Anderson parable, but aimed at you and your business… There are big fish and small fish, potential customers, all swimming in the sea that is your … Continue reading

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Positioning | 2 Comments

The coffee and wine school of innovation.

Here’s one for debate around a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Most innovation occurs when creative people are relaxed and thinking about other things.  Coffee, wine, quiet time, showers… How it occurs in large companies… We all … Continue reading

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Are you killing innovation in your company?

First, let’s recognize the problem. Here’s one for executives of any company with next generation products in mind.  As your business grows more complex and there are more employees to manage and more customers to care for, slowly you will … Continue reading

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Are the “FIVE WHY’S” in your arsenal?

This is a trick headline.  There can be three “whys” or twenty, depending upon the issue and the responses.  To make the point, the word “why” has to be one of the more powerful words in your vocabulary.  Asking the … Continue reading

Posted in Depending upon others, Growth!, Protecting the business, Surrounding yourself with talent | 1 Comment

Will you BURN the next manager you hire?

It seems to be a rule, not an exception. Many senior managers and early entrepreneurs create their own mess with this one. The first professional senior manager that an entrepreneur hires to share the growing workload does not last more … Continue reading

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Can you be an adaptive business leader?

The title of this insight happens to be the name of a CEO roundtable organization I belong to and have been a member since 1989 (Adaptive Business Leader Organization – or ABL).  The organization, like Vistage, manages roundtables of CEOs … Continue reading

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