When you think about your company’s growth, ask yourself, “What is our risk tolerance?” The answer is key to formulating your strategy. You cannot succeed with a plan for growth that pushes too far beyond the level of risk that is acceptable in your company. If you are the sole owner, the level of risk …
Category: Strategy and Company Growth
Your Opportunity Matrix: Dropbox Acquires Mailbox
The key to growth is future demand. Any acquisition you consider needs to take this factor into account. There are multiple ways to look at demand, and it’s essential to know which one is most appropriate for your company. I use a simple but powerful tool I call the Opportunity Matrix. It’s a way of …
Markets First
I always emphasize to my clients the critical value of painstaking market research and selection before considering individual prospects. Simply by conducting thorough research, you immediately separate yourself from the majority of company buyers and place yourself at an important competitive advantage. Choosing Market Criteria Choosing the correct market criteria may be tricky. Here are …
Growth Pathway # 5: Pursue External Growth
The fifth and final pathway to growth is external growth. Here, expansion is achieved by engaging with entities outside your company. There are many forms of engagement, of which acquisition is but one. External growth can be one of the most exciting paths to growth and in many cases, it should top your list of …
Growth Pathway # 4: Do Nothing
Of course, doing nothing is rarely if ever a pathway to growth. However, it is a choice that companies actually make every day. ‘‘Choice’’ may be an overstatement. Few executives or board members sit down, open their flipcharts, and plan a careful do-nothing strategy. They drift into it by default. When things seem to be …
Growth Pathway # 3: Be the Low Cost Provider
Sometimes organic growth can be achieved by dramatically cutting costs. I call this the “jellyfish strategy” : you go up when the tide is up and out when the tide goes out. There may not be many natural predators, so you will survive, but this approach is unlikely to drive long-term expansion. Note, that being …
Growth Pathway # 2: Exit the Market
If your company’s organic growth has hit a plateau or is in decline, leaving the current market is an option that should be seriously considered before you embark on any other growth solutions. As I previously mentioned, growth does not necessarily mean getting bigger. Sometimes the best pathway to growth is to get out of …
Growth Pathway # 1: Grow Organically
In my previous post, I mentioned the five pathways to growth. The first pathway is organic growth. Organic growth is business as usual. It is growth through acquiring more customers or selling more products. You may be reading this blog because on some level your organic growth has stalled. But before you rush to adopt …
Five Pathways to Growth
As you focus your attention on the growth of your company, there are five key pathways to consider: Grow Organically Exit the Market Be the Low-Cost Provider Do Nothing Pursue External Growth Before you even start planning an acquisition, remember there are other growth options available. It is an important realization that you do have …
Looking to the Future
As we begin the new year, I am reminded of the importance of looking to the future for growth. One of the tools I use at Capstone when we begin work with clients is Michael Porter’s ‘‘Five Forces’’ model for analyzing a company’s relative position in the market. It invites you to look at the pressures …
