From 40 to 80 - A Note To Self About Business Growth

So, after a year and a half of investment and growth in Sleeping Giant Media , I thought I'd share my observations on the difference between a 40-person business and an 80-person business.

This is a note to self for future growth!

In this hybrid world, growth really does sneak up on you.

I remember when we were a team of 12 and the first sign of growth was that a single kettle was no longer big enough for a tea round in the office. Next we didn't have enough desks in that office, and then it was a case of we needed to order more chairs. The physical signs of growth were really good markers of that expansion, and to a degree gave pause to think about that growth and the next steps we had to make.

In a hybrid/flexible work world those physical signs don't really exist in the same way. Of course the outgoings keep going up, but they are just numbers. So that is my first note to self: be more aware of the head count and maybe have an organisation chart that is reviewed regularly to help anchor the scale changes.

So, what is the difference between a 40-person & 80-person business?

Well, as it turns out... quite a lot!

Structures

The structure for delivery that 100% makes sense as a smaller business will 100% break as a bigger business. There are just certain issues when you try to scale the delivery using systems.

We also found that our old structure meant we had to find people who were really good at a number of hard-to-find skills. This resulted in a lot of recruitment, and a lot of learnings - recruiting for skills we never had before, and having to get quite niche with our recruitment strategy.

We had to find a new way to structure the delivery of the service to enable high levels of customer service, while also allowing us to find the right people to fit in with the system.

Don't underestimate the difficulty of growth and change

The structure change I mentioned above was big. It changed the whole way we do what we do. Looking back, I think we underestimated quite how big that change was, and the time it would take to onboard new Giants.

Maybe this is a hybrid thing, in that it was harder to get the feedback or for people to collaborate in that "forming" stage of the change curve - I am not sure, but I certainly think it could have gone smoother!

With that said, now it is in place we are seeing the benefits across the board for how it can work. So, you know... worth it.

Strategic view

When you are a smaller business, you (the owner/leaders) can wrap your hands around it and almost catch most things good and bad. Because it is yours, you see across the piste and get the view of the whole business - able to catch an issue before it arises.

This isn't possible in the same way in an 80-person business as there are simply too many moving parts and variables.

It is really important to have great people in leadership roles and ensure they have the tools to see those bumps in the road ahead and play their part in navigating around them.

Again we are fortunate here as we do have a great leadership team in place, and it is a case of developing as a group to ensure there is a shared strategic view across all the parts of the business.

Profit / purpose

As you get bigger there are many more numbers flying about. We have to make a lot of money each month to break even due to that growth in team size. We also have more people who focus on commercial and marketing so it should all stack up.

With the last couple of years, seeing a global pandemic, Brexit, war in Ukraine, and a cost of living increase, we aren't short of challenges, and pressures on the bottom line. I think this meant that we (and certainly I) focused more on the numbers than I would like.

Sleeping Giant Media has always been about purpose, and the profit is the outcome of running a great business delivering amazing things for our clients.

A note to self here is to;

1. ensure more people are aware of the commercial needs of the business and are responsible for making them happen,

and 2. by doing so, ensure as a leader I have some time to prioritise purpose as much as I can in the day to day. (Again, this is not that we haven't, but perhaps between the challenges, growth, and changes of the last couple of years, we haven't done so as much as I would have liked.)

Fun

In all the madness of the last couple of years, I had forgotten that work is fun...

The pandemic kick-started the feeling of "stepping up" to the challenge, and for various reasons that feeling has remained. Things became a necessity, like showing up and delivering to cover the gaps when others couldn't be around… it became a habit.

I prioritised and optimised everything I could to try and cover the gaps and keep the business moving forward, but in the process took out any recovery time, any down time, and any of the nice-to-do type tasks that I used to do.

For me the fun thing to do is something like writing this. It isn’t on fire, it isn’t urgent, probably not THAT important but it is fun to write. I also love planning for the business and working on it, which is where I feel I add the most value, and enjoy doing it. Also, trips to the pub with the team, or playing in the ball pit after work with my kids (did that the other day!) are amazing and important parts of the working week.?

To summarise, it's been a crazy few years - we've grown fast as a business, and as individual people. We're never done learning, and we can never expect things to work in one way for ever (although wouldn't it be nice if they did!). I am, undoubtedly, extremely proud of our team, our Giants, for everything they've bought forward to keep us growing - and look forward to what the business achieves in the coming years.

So, final note to self: do one thing in work you enjoy every day - it makes all the rest of the things become fun as well!