FROM LAUNCHPAD TO GROWTHPAD

FROM LAUNCHPAD TO GROWTHPAD

Inspiring organic growth in new business ventures

By Nelson KORKOR

Legendary entrepreneurs like David Packard, Bill Gates, and Henry Ford are definite examples of the excitement and glory of starting something from scratch and watching it grow to outstanding proportions. But the joy and the excitement of initiating new business ventures is not enough. There is the need to put the business on a growth spurt. Growth is great, and in business, it doesn’t always have to start in a garage. Larger corporations do also need growth.

Growth in corporate organizations

One of the ways to achieving growth is by starting something new. In corporate organizations for instance, growth can occur by introducing a new product or service or through merger or acquisition. There is a lot of investment that has to go into
new businesses in order for them to ever succeed.

The natural cycle of life is to progress from small to big, from little to great. From little to plenty and so on. Everything has the capacity to grow and expand when the right conditions are in place. To further drive home this point; let us take the analogy of a company that seeks to pursue growth. In this case, there are two ways that the growth goal will be realized. First, the company must cut down on its expenditure. The other way is for the company to expand its cash flow pie or sources of revenue.

New business ventures in larger corporations

Yes, start up ventures does exist in larger corporations. When a company introduces a new product of service that becomes a new venture on its own. It is very significant that management sees it as such and run it as a new venture. Many larger corporations often face the danger of not getting their products and services to do well in the market. The failure of most of these products or services often has to do with the way the initiative is managed by the leadership of the corporation. New business ventures must be seen as such and treated with the principles that undergird them or else they may not do well in the market place.

What are the mistakes associated with launching new business ventures within the larger corporation?

The first mistake is that managers of the corporation often do not commit the needed resources into the new venture. They don’t flood start up ventures with adequate recourses especially on the people who run the venture. Need venture creations may not necessarily do well in the market place simply because it has been launched by a reputable larger corporation. Effort must be put into making it work. Every new product or service places a new demand on management.

The second mistake has to do with marketing and promotions. Business mogul and former CEO of General Electric likes to put it this way: “Managers [often} make too little fun fare about the promise of the new business venture”.

The last issue has to do with autonomy. People in charge of new venture creations within larger corporations need some level of freedom to run things on their own. They must be empowered by managers to enable them run the new business to ensure its success.

DRIVING ORGANIC GROWTH IN NEW VENTURE CREATIONS

Growth and expansion is the ultimate aim of every enterprise that begins in a small way. But not many really do experience growth. What are the missing links? What factors are responsible for growth and how do these translates into experiencing organic growth? What are the pointers to organic growth?

Here are nine tips on promoting the growth of a business new venture.

»INVEST IN YOUR PEOPLE

The greatest asset of any enterprise is its people. The future of every business really depends on the quality of its people. To add value to your enterprise, you need to attract and invest in the best talent. Leadership needs to do assessment of the team and organize customized training for the team members.

»GET YOUR STRATEGY RIGHT

Strategy development and implementation is an ongoing activity within every organization. The kind of business model you have determines your competitiveness. To experience continuous growth in new venture, your strategy must apply to every detail of the business including customer service and pricing policies.

»FOCUS ON YOUR CORE BUSINESS

Many an entrepreneur, never get to experience organic growth because, they tend to trade in all kinds of businesses without really focusing on any one of them. People are more likely to follow the latest craze of seem to be popular. But as a new venture creator, you can only make impact by developing your staying power on a specific area of business.

» INSTITUTIONALISE CLEAR SYSTEMS & STRUCTURES

One of the biggest obstacles to growth in many new venture creations I have observed is the lack of clear systems and structures. There are no clearly defined positions and job descriptions for team members. There is lack of proper planning on the level of management and this translates into all kinds of haziness on what to do at a point in time. Instead of running the enterprise of value-based systems the venture becomes a play ground for all kinds of trial and errors. This is inimical to organic growth.

»DON’T RUN THE BUSINESS ON EMOTIONS

Emotions are deceptive and they can fail. The only thing that can stand the test of time is values and principles. Leaders need to determine and clarify values that undergird their business operations and stick to it. Whether the decision has to do with finance, marketing or HR policies or any other thing, leaders need to ensure that they are in line with the strategic plans of the enterprise.

»RESPECT YOUR TEAM

Lack of respect for team members and appreciation can be demotivating. Business leaders need to understand that they cannot make significant progress with the enterprise without their teams. When a leader shows respect to the team members, it even goes to affect how the team members relate to each other and even external clients.

»KEEP THE RECORDS RIGHT

Cash flow management and lack of a proper understanding of key financial issues in business has crippled any potentially profitable new venture creations.

Very often, new venture creators are tempted to diverting company’s finances. When the profits that accrues from the business is invested in houses, clothes, funerals, friends, just to name a few, organic growth and business expansion will hopefully become a mirage. Instead of spending the profits on these things, the leader should focus on reinvesting the profits back into the business. This is how company reserves are built. Without a clear cut strategy on building strong financial reserves for the venture it will continue to wallow in abject backwardness.

»CONTINOUSLY GENERATE CREATIVE IDEAS

Every enterprise was started by ideas and can only be sustained by generating consistent creative concepts to keep it going. When the team running an enterprise loses their senses of creativity and innovation, the demise of the business begins.

You will need ideas to continuously enhance the value of your enterprise, gain access to emerging markets and to also enhance your competitiveness to compete and lead the competition.

»BE LEADERSHIP MINDED

You need to think like a leader and act as such. That is the beginning of greatness. No matter how small the enterprise is, if you can resolve to always do things in the bests professional way, you will definitely attract attention of major stakeholders and attract the finest of clients. As a new venture creator, you need to get things done right and set the pace for others to follow. Your focus must be achieving competitive advantage.

CONCLUSIONS

It is great to launch a new enterprise but that is not enough. We must seek to grow it to become big. Growth is great experience but does not just happen. Conditions need to be met and the right systems have to be in place. New venture creations within larger corporations as well as new venture creations by individuals can all do well when the leadership drives the growth process with a principled-centered approach. Growth is not optional; it is a necessity in building a thriving enterprise!

Enjoy the rest of the week

Nelson Korkor speaks to university students, churches and other groups on new business ventures, entrepreneurship and leadership development skills. He can be contacted on korkornelson@gmail.com ; +233 201 32 15 31. For more articles visit www.nelsonbusiness.blogspot.com