Top 3 scaling mistakes to avoid in 2016
Jake Dunlap
I partner with forward thinking B2B CEOs/CROs/CMOs to transform their business with AI-driven revenue strategies | USA Today Bestselling Author of Innovative Seller
This is the time of year where most of us reflect on 2015 and plan to-dos for 2016. Instead, I’ve created a "not to do" list for the new year.
As a recovering sales leader turned CEO, I’ve noticed that most of my mistakes result from my preference for speed, and center around people, product, and top line vs. bottom line choices. Here, I’m sharing my top three mistakes I’ve made scaling a department or company so you can avoid them.
1. Nail your hiring profile before you accelerate it
What do you do when you have 20 million in the bank? Hire! Why not? If you have the cash and leadership team in place, it’s the next logical thing to do, right?
Wrong. Like any team and product, the first thing to plan out is the initial playbook that incorporates the personnel you have today. After that, create a clear plan for where you want to be in the future and a playbook to get there. The first year is about testing and understanding who fits in your system today, and how that will change as you grow and scale -- because it will.
Early on, you’ll need people who can work somewhat independently. These people will help you iterate and evolve your product and process. As you build out the playbook for the future, you will need people who can execute, since the formula for what you are selling and who you are selling to becomes clear.
The biggest mistake you can do is to hire 20-30 people into an unproven system, market, or product and hope they will figure it out, if the first five haven't already done so.
It becomes a wobbly tower. The foundation hasn't been laid and you keep stacking more and more on top of it. There always comes a point when the tower cracks or breaks and you’re forced to slow down and make repairs.
2. When launching new divisions, test for the mid-tail if there aren't comparable companies in the new market - there may be a reason no one is there
Read the books Crossing the Chasm and Four Steps to the Epiphany at least every two years. These books force you to look at the customer as a part of the process instead of as revenue, preventing you from scaling a business prematurely.
New products and markets are exciting because of the challenge and perceived opportunity. It's easy to get caught up in the momentum. Having a cluster of companies willing to buy may seem like a good thing, but it may not mean that the product or market is ready to scale. Pump the brakes until you have a repeatable process to tackle the market AND a verified TAM. One day’s worth of research may save you months or years of headaches and personnel issues.
Go slow and verify, and then verify again that the market is big enough and that opportunity cost of going somewhere else or selling something else is worth the effort.
3. Never forget that people matter more than email and projects
In stages of rapid growth, it's easy to think "she's got this, I don't need to have that 1-1 this week."
Your people matter more than almost any deadline or email you can imagine. What would happen if you cleared your calendar tomorrow or another day this week, and instead dedicated time to spend the day with the people that matter the most? Most likely, you would have very engaged executives, and those who didn't notice a thing.
This is a mistake I make over and over again. So much so that, as I write this, I realize that I need to have at least three 1-1s this week with people "that are doing great and have it figured out." When you are growing, it is easy to focus on the areas of underperformance and let the top people continue to do what they do. This is also the easiest way to lose your top people, as top performers usually want and expect more attention because they know their value.
It is often too late when you realize this, and it only takes 1-2 top people leaving to make you refocus on what should always matter most - your people.
Looking back at Skaled’s 2015, I can say that I've made versions of each of these mistakes and it's through this reflection that we are poised for a great 2016. Companies that are growing and performing well are also consistently hurt by these mistakes. It's not that growth stops, but that growth will slow unnecessarily when you forget these three learnings. Execute, reflect, perfect and then execute differently -- and try to not repeat the same mistakes consistently.
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Do you agree or disagree with my points above? What mistakes have you learned from this past year?
Founder / CEO / Connector / Podcaster / Talks about Startups / Small Business / Leadership Development
9 年Jake, great points here. Thanks for sharing.
Vice President, Global Channels, Alliances & Inside Sales at Rubrik (NYSE: RBRK)
9 年Great read, was nodding my head when reading all 3 points.
Gotham City Consulting LLC - Off Market Real Estate (Ph. 917.653.0077)
9 年I agree...great post. I would also add there should be a focus on the product and to the extent that it can be scaled. Obviously a more commoditized product or service can be more easily scaled while more complex items can only be scaled to a certain extent. You will run the risk of losing top people if you try to completely scale up a highly complex product/service which had been marketed by a seasoned sales force. Not only will your pitch have to be watered down to a level of ineffectiveness to accommodate scaling, the talents of your best people will be perceived as irrelevant in the organization causing them to move on perhaps to your competition. So scale with some caution!
Here's another perspective on your third point. If you can improve your top performers results by even a few percent, the net gain is often more than taking your lowest performers and doubling their output. While I'm not advocating the tossing of the bottom performers on the scrap heap, you have to make sure you are both nurturing and challenging your top performers.
Sales and Go to Market Revenue Creator with Operations Realignment Expertise.
9 年Thank you to Jake Dunlap for the candor and bravery to share lessons learned. Most don't want to admit mistakes! Being in customer touching roles and often in changing or starting new go to market sales/bizdev roles, I've experienced firsthand may times your lesson on-"The biggest mistake you can do is to hire 20-30 people into an unproven system, market, or product and hope they will figure it out, if the first five haven't already done so." For me there is still a lot of tunnel vision, i.e. believing one's own bullsh*t and not listening to the customer and partner feedback or perspective. My lesson learned - try to find mgmt. teams that think like you do!