The dynamics to achieving Hypergrowth in your organisation

As a growth coach on the UK  government’s Growth Accelerator programme I am frequently working with CEO’s and their teams from High Growth organisations. In the US a Gazelle’s company is defined as one capable of growing revenues by 20% for four consecutive years. Highly prized these Mid Market organisations are the driving force behind employment growth in many of the world’s economies.

Some research that has just been undertaken by Grant Thornton and the Growth Accelerator programme has looked at the dynamics underpinning those companies that are achieving hyper growth, with results outperforming the mean within the Growth Accelerator programme.

Hyper Growth businesses are defined by:
• Are GrowthAccelerator clients
• Have achieved 65% + increase in Gross Value Added (GVA)2
and/or employment growth in year one of GrowthAccelerator (FY12/13)
• Have achieved GVA growth of >£500,000 or employment growth of > 10 people

The concept of Hyper Growth is a simple one,it is a business that has grown at a remarkable rate, far beyond what is commonly considered “high growth”. By analysing the characteristics, culture, nature and approach of the businesses and – in particular – the leaders who have presided over this period of exceptional growth we can begin to ascertain what are the characteristics that underpin exceptional growth in a company.

 

The 15 traits of Hyper Growth companies identifies a number of characteristics that you would expect in many High Growth organisations, so what is it that sets this group apart.  I have written over recent weeks the importance of a Growth Mindset and having the confidence to invest, make the tough calls and bring on board the very best talent.   I have also studied Multipliers by Liz Wiseman and again many of the traits that she describes in high performance leaders are reflected in the traits above.

I am working with around 5 or 6 hyper growth companies,  using the definition from Grant Thornton.  The major factors from my point of view would be ambition, setting down BHAGs ( Big Hairy Audacious Goals as described by Jim Collins),  having the discipline and tenacity to  overcome set backs and Massive FOCUS on executing the plan.  The other key factor is then the ability to let go and bring in a talented team who are able to drive exceptional growth while look after both customers and the bottom line.

Verne Harnish, author of Mastering the Rockefeller habits recognises four disciplines that high growth companies need to master: Strategy, Cash, People and Execution. His new book Scaling Up will be an excellent reference point for any company looking to achieve outstanding growth prospects.

In my next Blog I will investigate more of the Hyper growth Insights study which you can read more about by clicking on the link.

 

Author:   https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NealeLewis/posts

 

Conscious Capitalism – The Foundation principles of Kit Tendell CEO of the Container Store

A few weeks ago I published a post on the Hiring principles of the Container Store group.  Today I found myself having a conversation with a young entrepreneur who has recently opened a number of Retail stores with a clear focus on Fair Trade and Ethical Trading.

I mentioned to her about the foundation principles of Kip Tendell the Chairman and CEO of the Container Store and how affected I had been while reading the letter that he had sent to all Shareholders and Stakeholders of his great business. On reading through again, there are so many great learning’s that we can all take, that I have published the whole letter in full.

Would love to hear your thoughts and how you can take the learnings into your business….

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To our prospective shareholders,

As we celebrate our 35th anniversary this year, I am thrilled, honored and proud to be writing this letter to you.

Since 1978, The Container Store has been working toward creating a retail store experience that is unlike any other – a differentiated shopping experience offering customers innovative, time and space‑saving solutions coupled with astonishing customer service from happy, well‑trained, well‑paid salespeople. We hope you and yours have had the opportunity to enjoy it. And if you haven’t, I’d love nothing more than for you to take a trip to one of our stores around the country to see what we’re talking about. A store that can change your life? Well, yes, we hope so.

Our yummy culture – What we stand for

How to define The Container Store culture? I would have to say that first and foremost we’re an employee‑first, yummy company. “What does it mean to be yummy?” might be your next question. Well, it’s the opposite of yucky. We know our employee‑first mantra defies conventional business wisdom, most famously expressed by the late American economist Milton Friedman. Milton said the only reason a corporation exists is to maximize the return of the shareholder. Well, with all due respect to Milton, at The Container Store we have found that if you take better care of the employees than anybody else, they really will take better care of the customers than anybody else. It’s actually about creating this one‑of‑a‑kind experience, where we operate our business with a focus on all of our stakeholders – but with our employees first.

This results in a culture where employees get out of bed and actually look forward to coming to work – to work alongside other great people. It’s a purpose to improve our customers’ lives through the gracious gift of organization, to help our vendors’ businesses become all they hope and dream they can be, and to make our communities a better place to live. And in doing this, all by staying true to our seven Foundation Principles, which I’ll tell you even more about later, we know that the lives of everyone associated with our business will be enriched, filled with opportunity and EVERYONE – all of our stakeholders – can thrive.

People often say (and I mean often), “How does The Container Store do it? How have you always been considered a great place to work (and we’re talking retail), and how can you compete against the mass merchants and all of the knockoffs you’ve seen over the years?” My response always points to the culture and our Foundation Principles. We trust that the most sophisticated investors understand that our culture is what drives the value of our business – yes, the culture. In all that we do every single day we keep a laser‑like focus on developing and nurturing our culture.

It means that when we asked our employees to describe in a word The Container Store’s culture, they shared things like love, passion, family, sweet, security, support, mindful, magical and matchless. Love and sweet and mindful – in business? Now that warms my heart and is something we’re incredibly proud and passionate about.

One of our greatest hopes is that the practice of simultaneously taking care of everyone connected to a business, operating from a purpose beyond profits and leading with consciousness – what we along with other companies, thought leaders and academics call Conscious Capitalism® – becomes the preferred and most accepted way of doing business. It will prove that the economic imperatives of corporate success aren’t incompatible with doing the right things. It’s not a zero‑sum game. No one has to lose for the other person to win. You can make decisions based on love and succeed.

Our foundation principles

In order to achieve all of this, our business is structured around some very basic and fundamental values and business philosophies about treating employees, customers and vendors with respect and dignity – we call them our Foundation Principles™.

They were formalized in 1988, after we opened our Houston store. That store made us take a look at our business a little harder. From the day we opened the doors, the store did more business than we ever anticipated, which became quite overwhelming to our Houston store employees.

So I referred to a file I had started many years ago called my “philosophy epistle file” where I’d put various anecdotes, musings and philosophical phrases that I admired beginning in high school, through college and up to this time in the business. I chose many examples to communicate the message that no matter how big the company became, its guiding principles and values would stay the same and over the years these were condensed into our Foundation Principles™.

By understanding and supporting these principles and philosophical guidelines, everyone can all respond in unison to similar circumstances. In other words, they act as a unit, all working in the same direction toward the same goal. Retail is far, far too situational to attempt to achieve a concerted effort through inflexible rules and policies.

So, instead of using the typical phone‑book‑sized retail procedural manual to guide our decision making, all of us at The Container Store use our Foundation Principles™ to keep everyone on track, focused and fulfilled as employees. With this combination of values‑driven business philosophies and a one‑of‑a‑kind product selection, The Container Store’s goal is to become the best retail store in America.

“1 Equals 3” is our hiring philosophy. One great person equals three good people in terms of business productivity. We have to be selective when interviewing potential employees because of the brand promise we’ve made to our customers to provide exceptional customer service.

We believe that Communication IS Leadership – they are one and the same. The Container Store knows the importance of executing every day, consistent, reliable, predictable, effective, thoughtful, compassionate and yes, even courteous communication. It’s hard, but we feel passionate that it is critical in developing and growing our business successfully.

This statement has become a Golden Rule of our company – it’s our business philosophy. The Container Store has been successful in creatively crafting mutually beneficial relationships with our vendors by doing everything possible to truly “fill their baskets to the brim.” We know that in return, they will support us and assist in our success as well.

Conventional wisdom says that price is mutually exclusive of service and selection. It’s hard for most retailers to offer competitive pricing and provide exceptional service. A few great retailers have achieved a combination of the best selection and the best service. To add competitive pricing to that equation is generally unheard of, but The Container Store works hard to achieve all three simultaneously with this philosophy.

This is our training philosophy and demonstrates how committed we are in arming our employees with the knowledge to provide the best possible service to our customers. We want our employees to use their intuition, which I heard someone once say is the sum total of your life experiences, so why would you want them to leave that at home when they come to work? In order to successfully anticipate the needs of our customers, we encourage our employees to use their intuition coupled with the enormous training they receive on our products. We are the experts and must ensure our customers feel more than taken care of by us.

This is our selling philosophy and we use it to illustrate how we astonish our customers by exceeding their expectations. When a customer comes to our store looking for shoe storage, for example, we equate her to a “Man in a Desert,” in desperate need of a complete solution (not just a drink of water). We start asking questions about what her needs are. “How many shoes do you have?” “If shoes are a big problem for you, how does the rest of the closet function?” By anticipating her needs, we know that she needs an organization plan – a complete solution – for her entire closet.

Three steps in the door and you can tell whether or not a retail store has it. And we know that The Container Store has it! “Air of Excitement” is our employees’ smiling faces and genuine concern for customers’ needs. It’s the bright, visual, innovative and conversation‑provoking products we sell. It’s our clean, well‑organized shelves. It’s music that is pleasant and speaks to our customers.

The customer dance

It’s all of these wonderful Foundation Principles that, working together, create that differentiated shopping experience. That customer experience is not just about any one thing. It’s a very complex and powerful mix of so many things. But the ultimate reward, the validation that the experience was successful is what we call getting the customer dance. It’s everything about the customer experience that happens in the store and continues on after that customer gets home. Her heart rate goes up, up, up with every interaction with the brand. It’s about what occurs when she takes the product home and actually lives with it. We want her to do a little dance every time she opens that closet door in the morning because it’s so beautifully organized. So perfect for her. Frankly, she feels an emotional connection to her closet. The product – the solution – it transcends value for her.

And the dance is really happening when she has her friends, sister‑in‑law and neighbor over to see her closet and they want to feel that way every morning so they make a trip to The Container Store to find out how they can experience that feeling. I’ve had customers tell me over and over again how our stores are a peaceful, organized oasis after a really stressful day or, even better, after a trip to our store they say It was more fun than Disneyland.

Our customers don’t just like The Container Store – they say they love us. It’s the ultimate achievement in building a brand when the people associated with it don’t just enjoy the brand, they somehow feel a part of it.

Continuing to lead with heart and soul

I’m excited about the work we have ahead of us – whether it’s in the stores that are yet to be built or in the products of the future that will continue to help our customers

save space and time. We’ll continue to create boundless opportunities for our employees and they will be enriched by working around other inspiring, fantastic colleagues. We will continue to work closely with our vendors, building our businesses together – and we will have customers continuing to dance in their closets with delight. All of our stakeholders will enjoy The Container Store’s purpose in action.

My favorite movie is It’s a Wonderful Life. I know it’s kind of corny, but the whole movie is about showing one guy, George Bailey, the power of his wake. At The Container Store, we talk a lot about WAKE – like a boat’s wake. I really believe that being a CONSCIOUS business means that everyone is aware of their wake. And I think that all of our wakes are much, much bigger than we can ever, ever imagine. We have built a culture that champions a collective focus on our wake, team, mutual support and respect, grace of authority and servant leadership and leadership based on love rather than fear. We believe The Container Store’s magic will continue to flourish in our next step as a public company.

We’ve come a long way over the last 35 years – from my dad’s friends scratching their heads about us opening a store that sells “empty boxes” to originating and now leading the storage and organization category of retailing to being at or near the top of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies To Work For” the last 14 years in a row (we were #1 twice). We’ve been one of Oprah’s “Favorite Things” during her farewell season and most recently achieved positive quarterly comps for 13 consecutive fiscal quarters as of fiscal August. But our heart and soul, our devotion to operating a conscious business has never wavered. It’s what makes The Container Store matchless – and something I’m excited to say continues to strengthen with every step we take in our extraordinary journey.

We will continue to innovate, trail blaze, astonish and thrill. And we will continue to work hard and create opportunity for everyone associated with our business. But, if the RPM needle ever gets in the red and our precious, yummy culture is in need of a bit of a hug, we’ll stop and give it the love it deserves and needs. For love is what The Container Store’s past, present and future is built on.

I sure wouldn’t want to miss our future – would you? We hope you’ll join us!

Kip Tindell

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Six steps to growing your business

Verne Harnish the author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits has highlighted six key areas that we must focus on if we are to successfully drive out sustainable business growth

1. Get an edge

Find an underlying advantage of 10 to 30 times over the competition to dominate your industry. Barrett Ersek, founder of Philadelphia-based Happy Lawn, innovated a way to close sales in minutes instead of weeks using a proprietary mapping and price-quoting process. When he realised the opportunity presented by Google Maps he was able to change all the normal rules of his industry and gain a massive competitive edge

How to figure this out? Look at your industry’s biggest cost and time constraints and challenge the conventional thinking in those areas of the business.

2. Own a phrase

Brand is about owning a word or two in the minds of your market. No confusion about what niche Trench Safety & Supply Inc. owns. J. Darius Bikoff, founder of Energy Brands, coined “enhanced waters” as a new multibillion-dollar beverage category.  Verne Harnish has the “Growth Guy” to reflect his passion for helping Mid Market Growth organisations.

And how do you know if you own the phrase? Google it and see if your company shows up.

3. Hyperfocus

Align the entire company around a single measurable priority each quarter. Not 75, not five, but one overarching focus for the next 90 days that removes a significant bottleneck in the business.

One company that I work with has a Laser like focus on making their consultants more productive, another client on moving out their market penetration in the UK from 70 body shops to 150 body shops.

4. Control your cash

Growth sucks cash, so construct a business model that fuels your growth without the need of outside capital. Credit Control process,  advanced payments, tighter billing practices, and shorter sales and delivery cycles are a few of many strategies. And to stay focused, look at your cash position daily. You’ll sleep better knowing the business can fund its own growth.

5. Write!

Flood the digital market space with blogs, white papers, YouTube videos, and Twitter messages that align with the phrase you own. You Tube is becoming more and more important and now that it is owned by Google also has a significant impact on the way that your business can be found.

Published content is king in driving education-based marketing programs and in establishing you and your company as the authorities in your industry.

6. Pulse faster

If you want to move faster, pulse faster. The executive teams of the fastest-moving companies huddle daily, as if in constant crisis mode — driving on priorities, metrics, and data gathered from the market. Verne highlights this as ensuring you have a great Rhythm in your business.

Billionaires like T. Boone Pickens formally meet twice a day with their teams. And successful executive teams gather once a week vs. annually to get some talk time around the six strategies I’ve outlined for growing the business. It’s about having a bias for action.