Are you trying to build scale on shaky foundations?
In a recent conversation with EssentialistCEO’s Kasey Jones, she uttered the title phrase of this card. Kasey was talking about how often clients come to her looking for growth strategy while having none of the product market fit; sometimes not even understanding what their service offering actually is.
Besides it being a fabulous play on words, which I love, her observation made me immediately think of stages of growth.
In Metronomics, we are talking about three such stages:
- Foundation
- Momentum
- Compounding
We see it so often that companies are trying (and nearly inevitably, failing) to jump to the Momentum (scaling) phase too soon, without the foundation being built and proven solid.
Let’s talk about what constitutes a solid foundation:
- Cohesive, all A-player leadership team: often underestimated, you can’t get anywhere without one.
- Purpose, Values and BHAG1: Need to know why you exist, how you go about doing business and what you are aiming for.
- Scoreboard & Open Playing Field: Have a clear understanding of the business and visibility for all team members – know when you are winning.
- Core Customer: Who is your core customer, what are their needs and what is the value you provide to them.
- Differentiators: What makes you unique, which are the dimensions you are competing along – and which ones you ignore
Having those in place makes everything easier. With a solid foundation, you can build momentum and pick up speed – therefore move onto “Scale” as your next objective.
Do you feel like scale is hard, as you have to frequently go back to rethink the basics?
