Every entrepreneur wants to grow their business at a rapid rate to achieve maximum profits and success — but this is no easy feat. Companies grow at a variety of different rates based on their market share, internal capacities, and a variety of other factors.
There’s normal growth, rapid growth, and then, there’s hypergrowth. According to the April 2008 issue of the Harvard Business Review, hypergrowth is the steep part of the S-curve that most young markets and industries experience at some point. The top of the S-curve is where the companies that can effectively manage their growth are separated from the rest and thrive in hypergrowth.
The fastest growing companies have a few things in common. Among other things, they use technology efficiently, have a knowledgeable marketing team, hire prospects with future growth in mind, and — most importantly — they learn ahead of time what it’s going to take to find success in hypergrowth and prepare for it.
How can you become an expert on hypergrowth?
Here are 11 tips to get the growth of your business on the fast track:
1. Do Your Research
To be an expert on hypergrowth, you should be pretty skilled in doing research. This is important because research helps you determine whether your product or service is one that will have high enough demand for hypergrowth.
You will also want to learn everything you can about the possible obstacles that you’re going to face and build a plan to overcome them.
2. Become an Effective Leader
When it comes to company expansion and growth, comfort is one of the biggest reasons for failure. You feel like your business is already doing well. You don’t want to make risky decisions that could hurt your success. The leader’s inhibitions can prevent a company from growing.
To achieve hypergrowth, you must be able to leave your comfort zone. You’re not going to grow your company with a stagnant mindset. If you don’t grow as a leader, neither will your company.
Accepting failure as part of the growth process is very important so that you maintain a positive outlook on growth and remain focused on your goals. You should also be able to scale quickly outside your own skill set. A great leader can wear many hats and take on various responsibilities and tasks. They will also know when they are in over their heads and have the foresight and skill to hire someone to fill in for their own skill gaps.
3. Create a Plan
Creating a clear plan is perhaps the most important aspect of achieving hypergrowth. Not having a plan will set you up for failure. You’ve probably heard the advice to map out a plan for the long-term.
In hypergrowth it can actually work better to stack short-term goals toward the bigger picture. Setting goals in increments (i.e. six weeks, six months, two years, etc.) can help you micromanage and remain focused on specific tasks as your company rapidly grows and evolves.
4. Know How to Network
Increasing your customer base is a key factor in achieving hypergrowth. Making connections with other businesses is one of the best ways to generate customers. Also, the more links and connections you have with other businesses, the more you are able to process deals with big enterprises.
For example, if you run an eCommerce business, fast shipping is pretty crucial to your operations. To increase the speed of shipping — especially when demand is high — you can network with a company that offers shipping services.
Strong relationships with other businesses will take a huge load off your company and give you one less thing to worry about. You can use that extra time to focus on growth and expansion.
5. Aim for Mass Production
When it comes to growing your business, you expect to get an increasing number of new customers. As your business grows rapidly, meeting the demands of customers becomes more difficult.
To prepare for the hypergrowth of your business, you will likely need to increase the number of operating warehouses, hire more workers, and invest in technology that maximizes productivity and efficiency. You will want to evaluate your processes and improve efficiency as much as possible before entering hypergrowth. Then, you will want to constantly reassess your processes as you grow to keep refining them.
6. Hire Highly Talented & Motivated People
Technology is great and provides innovative ways to become efficient. But it can’t replace the power of human communication. You want the most talented team that shares a common vision. Whether you choose to outsource talent recruitment or find talent using your own resources, finding the right people are crucial to the growth of your business.
You want a talented team that shares a common vision. Whether you choose to outsource talent recruitment or find talent using your own resources, finding the right people are crucial to the growth of your business.
YapStone, a company that powers payments for global marketplaces hired many experienced executives from companies like Twitter, Paypal, and Salesforce. YapStone grew by 136 percent over a three year period.
Also, it’s not wise to hire unqualified staff to save on costs. Your business will suffer. Employees won’t perform the way you want them to, which will hurt production and result in profit loss in the end.
You should put your focus on recruiting, hiring, and retaining only the best talent out there. The best talent not only have specific skill sets to offer, but they also have problem-solving skills, intercultural skills, and a mindset geared towards growth.
Once you’ve acquired great talent, you should make an effort to retain that talent. This is called talent retention. To do this, you must reward your talent by offering raises, bonuses, or in-house perks based on performance. You also need to consider advancement opportunities for employees that are working hard to meet your goals. Providing these benefits can improve the work environment and keep employees committed to your company.
7. Invest in Technology
Your employees and outsourced talent are crucial to the management and operations of a business. Technology is useful for increasing efficiency and speeding up certain processes like data storage and customer support.
If you operate a call center, then you’ll need more computers and headsets. Are you in the food industry? Chances are, you have more products to maintain, which can be difficult. Smart automation can help you monitor your inventory by making sure temperatures remain optimal and appliances are operating correctly.
Take a look at your upcoming technology needs and begin training your team today so you can scale up in hypergrowth.
8. Revolutionize Your Customer Experience
The value of customer service has definitely increased over the years. We live in a fast-paced world where consumers expect a certain level of customer experience. To increase the chances of customers coming back to you for your product or service, your business must provide them with exceptional customer service.
To do this, be prepared to provide 24/7 customer support of some kind. Be generous with special offers and deals. Being more customer-focused will result in more customers and a higher retention rate, which are key factors in hypergrowth.
As an example, The Fulfilment Lab, a fulfillment house that provides customized solutions for global companies, operates in an industry that’s not traditionally customer-focused. The company decided to do something different by creating technology that fits each customer’s individual needs. As a result, the company experienced growth at 1,1735 percent in the past three years.
9. Focus on Branding
Having a brand allows you to set your company apart from others and allows people to identify you. This creates trust. And trust encourages customers to buy from you.
If you’re selling a product, spend some time designing the packaging. Customers enjoy creativity and careful design, thus, encouraging them to purchase from you again as well as recommend you to other consumers.
You also need to be aware that a brand is more than just fonts, colors, and logos. Your brand is the way you treat your customers and employees, the vision and values that you have, and the voice that you want to project. It’s the “human” element of your company that customers can relate to and gather around.
10. Anticipate the Future
Don’t assume that the current state of your business will remain that way in the future. It’s important to plan for the future and take into account possible outcomes and scenarios.
Innovating new ideas, staying ahead of your competitors, and constantly evolving to new changes will help ensure that your hypergrowth will remain at its current level.
11. Have an Inspiring Vision
You want your employees to be enthusiastic for the growth and expansion of your company. Having a simple, clear goal in mind will increase the chances of success. You want your employees to share in your vision and work hard to help you achieve it.
Make sure you know what it is, have it written down, and discuss it with your team so they are on board.
Hypergrowth Recruiting Help
Do you need help in recruiting candidates? At Mogel RPO, we pride ourselves on putting passionate, talented people to work. We specialize in working with companies that are entering hypergrowth and need to hire the right people quickly.
For more information about our recruitment and business talent solutions, please feel free to contact us.