Most businesses find themselves on the ‘get bigger or get out’ merry go round. Unfortunately, one of the characteristics of merry go rounds is that unless you hold on, centrifugal force will throw you off.
Also, the faster you go, the more likely you are to be thrown off, and as you slip towards the edge, the momentum grows making it that much harder to reverse the trend.
The alternative choice is to get stronger, rather than just bigger.
This usually means you say ‘No’ to a lot of tempting, but short term ‘opportunities’ that will arise, as most will dilute the focussed and differentiated value you can deliver to your ideal customers.
The dual question therefore is: How do you get ‘stronger,’ and what does stronger actually mean?
To me, strong means a number of things.
- You are commercially resilient,
- Customers, employees, and suppliers are all aligned to your values and strategy,
- You have a strong brand amongst your customer base who want what you have because you are the only one who has it, and
- Your competitors employees wish they worked for you
In short, you have a ‘moat’ around your business that repels all boarders and pretenders, and resists the siren song that suggests the grass is always greener somewhere else .
When you have all that, you can get bigger, it will happen almost without you driving size, as the strength will attract suppliers, customers, and those great employees with energy and ideas.
