There are 3 main challenges in scaling up a business once you get past the start up stage:
1) Growing the capabilities of the leadership team
2) Installing a scalable infrastructure to manage the complexities that keep increasing with growth
3) Staying on top of the market dynamics that affect the business.
To overcome these challenges your business need to make right decisions
related to
1) People
2) Strategy
3) Execution
4) Cash
If you make the right decisions, then – your people (employees,customers, shareholders) will be happy and engaged in the business; your strategy will lead to a sustainable growth in terms of revenue and gross margins; all the processes in your company will be running smoothly and profitably without issues like missed deadlines, poor quality,overworked employees etc.; your cash flow will be consistent enough to fuel your growth.
Now how do you make the right decision ?
This book by Verne Harnish and his team tells you how.
It provides some simple practical tools and techniques like One-Page Personal Plan, Functional Accountability Chart, Process Accountability Chart, Vision Summary, SWT (Strengths, Weakness, Trends) Analysis, The 7 Strata of Strategy, One-Page Strategic Plan,WWW (Who, What, When) Chart, Rockfeller Habits Checklist, Power of One, Cash Acceleration Strategies.
These tools and techniques focus on
1. Reducing the time spent by the top management on operational activities by 80%
2. Refocusing the senior executives on market-facing activities
3. Realigning everyone else (onto the same page) to drive execution and results
The authors claim that by successfully implementing their tools, organizations can
1. Double their cash flow rate
2. Achieve a profitability three times the industry average
3. Get better valuation of their firm than their competitors
4. Help their stakeholders — employees, customers, and shareholders — enjoy the process of growth
I first came across this book at one of my client’s organization where they are using the tools mentioned in this book to scale up their business. Initial results are encouraging as they have achieved better alignment within their senior management team. Still early days though.
I rate this book as 4 on a scale of 5 and would recommend it to any company which needs practical guidance on how to make their business grow.
Scaling Up has received very favorable reviews from well respected best selling business authors like Geoffrey Moore, Patrick Lencioni, and Robert Cialdini.
Read what other readers say about this book at Amazon.com, Amazon.in and Goodreads.
