This is the first of a series of posts following up on our previous discussion;”Why Small and Mid Sized Firms Grow”. We will be describing some of the various ways companies become successful. It all starts with surviving the precarious first year or two.
For example, you may have worked for a firm that used temps and knew their shortcomings of the staffing firms they used, so you drew upon your hiring and candidate contacts and started your own firm. You placed people, hired a small staff and found a niche. But you did not separate yourself from competition and figure out how to become special. Too many companies are complacent and are happy to get by. That’s OK, but if you want to become a large and profitable company this doesn’t happen by magic. To be effective you may need people with an outside perspective as to best practices, how others have succeeded and what mistakes you want to avoid. Remember your competitors are not standing still. And don’t listen to Satchel Page the famous baseball player who said “don’t look back, something may be gaining on you”.
After getting to breakeven you realized you needed an assessment of your strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities and do a SWOT plan to figure out how to grow by increasing your market share. To do this requires a series of action plans targeting what you found out in the SWOT analysis, with specific responsibilities and financial targets by individual with hard due dates. Successful, growing companies don’t accept any excuses for not meeting assignments. And when one task is completed another one is added to the list. Doing this well requires hiring and retaining good staff, setting standards, targeting key accounts, retaining clients, minimizing risk, using metrics, doing a cost benefit assessment and a lot more. Successful companies set aggressive goals but have a realistic vision of what is possible, work hard and the leader should set an example for others. We will deal with these and other areas in future blogs.
Optimal Management is the premier management consulting company to the staffing industry. We act as mentors to owners and managers to maximize their sales, profits and value of their company. We become an extension of our clients operations and are there for all of their staffing and business needs, from sales, marketing and compensation plans, to finance, M&A, general management and everything in between.
