AVOIDING SCALE-URE

Congratulations, your entrepreneurial spirit and sound decision-making have helped you successfully avoid the 82% chance your business would fail, and you are now running a thriving small business. 

While late nights and long hours may not yet be a thing of the past, gone is the fear of when your next check is arriving.. Bonus–you’re enjoying the benefits of what you’ve built and the people you have been able to help along the way!  It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it!

Now, as you look out at the future, what used to seem like the destination has turned into a doorway to do something you never dreamed of (or maybe it’s exactly where you dreamed you would be).  Either way, you have the chance to become part of the .01% of companies that make up America’s large and middle-market business community.  But, there is a reason that only .01% make that leap…they have figured out how to successfully morph their organizations over time to avoid Scale-ure!

Defining Scale-ure:

Scale-ure is term I’ve coined to describe the lack of success in expanding a company past its entrepreneurial roots and into an enterprise organization. This definition is based on the reality that as organizations grow past the founders, owners, and partners, they require a different structure, set of boundaries, management routines, and operational safeguards to run effectively. 

More specifically, as companies grow into larger organizations, a natural tension develops between the need to decentralize decision-making authority and operational execution while keeping a central and critical set of core values, mission, identity, and messaging. Understanding the need for that pivot, executing it effectively, and embedding the necessary leadership capability in the organization to make that happen is no small task and one that is too often underestimated because of the success that got you to this point.

To quote Marshall Goldsmith, “What got you here, won’t get you there.”  Recognizing that truth early, understanding the new drivers of success, and systematically embedding the proper fundamentals of a solid foundation for your next phase of growth will be vital to your future success.

In my upcoming posts, I will start to unpack the transition from entrepreneur to enterprise with the goal of helping you recognize the signs that you may be headed for Scale-ure and give you practical insights on avoiding its pitfalls and living into a new level of organizational prosperity.