Business owners should regularly set forth strategic growth initiatives to continually improve their businesses. Without doing so, they will lose their competitive edges in the market over time - eventually stagnating, falling behind, and losing out to other businesses providing higher value services. That being said, 'growth' can take on many forms (the most obvious of which is revenue growth via with increased sales). However - a 'growth mindset' with regards to improving your business, can reference other metrics of success to be enhanced - including but not limited to: profitability, customer satisfaction, brand equity, efficiency, and more.
With GEC, we take a step by step approach to setting initiatives, selecting with a well defined set of criteria, and subsequently executing them with our partners and documenting returns along the way! This process typically follows as such:
1. Internal and External Analysis
GEC will always start by conducting an analysis of a partner firms' internal and external environments. Michael Porter's Five Forces model forms the backbone for external analysis, and value chain analysis for most internal analysis. With this, a solid context and scope of the propensity for growth is defined per the needs of the client, and localized to their operation(s). In this phase of initiative setting we seek to deeply understand the situation for best results moving into the next phase of the process.
2. Opportunity Identification
With our analysis complete, we can discriminate between our options and choose the highest value option for improvement and growth! A strategic outlook is set which aligns with the company's existing vision and mission statements, and competitive advantages are sought after. Improvement opportunities are, for most small and medium sized businesses, everywhere! Best practices may be applied to: finance, sales, marketing, operations, human resources, research and development, etc - the list rages on! Ultimately, the goal with these strategic growth initiatives is to enable a partner company to outsmart, outwork, and or outlast competition - and maximize their business' potential. In this stage, Net Present Value analysis are conducted and shared for efficiency evaluation between options. The opportunities targeted are those of highest value that make sense within scope and dedicated resources available to our partners, and have measurable outcomes!
3. Projected Execution
As the third part of the process, initiatives are evaluated for their feasibility. Once a company has signed on to service with GEC, preparation of resources, completion of tasks, as well as ongoing capture and record of value provided are all to be conducted with minimal managerial oversight required from our clients, saving valuable time and effort - executive level updates only! Initiatives that have the intended time frame and cost points of our partners are to be prioritized and understood in setting up the goalposts of a consultative engagement.
4. Evaluation and Measurement
Lastly, setting initiatives for growth is only half as effective if the changes go forth without being understood. If you cannot correctly identify factors leading to your success, how can you replicate the process for your business in the future? GEC provides monitoring tools and processes to assist with the experimental and data-driven basis for which a company can attribute growth to their actions. Initiatives which are best suited against this criteria will rise to the top and allow for the greatest growth effect for our partners.
In Closing...
These criteria are linked directly to the execution process of any improvement project a company undertakes, large or small. Therefore they deserve careful consideration and thought, with evidence to back them up and guide businesses to an optimal decision. To make the most of this, GEC is ready to partner with your business to make continued strategic growth a reality! Contact us here and learn more about how we can enable your growth with effective human capital.
-Sam Vallagomesa
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