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War Story #9
| Business Type: |
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| Specialty building
materials |
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| Challenge: |
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Managing rapid
growth |
| Work
Performed: |
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Developed
business plan |
| Benefit
Provided: |
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This
company started as a home-based business. It is now housed in
a 4,000 square foot office/showroom operation with a staff of
about 10 people. It has increased sales by 50% within two
years of making the change from a home-based business to an
"outside office" location. It is more organized and
able to grow based upon the efforts of employees and not only
the owners' individual talents. It is able to leverage growth
and is not constrained as it had been (facilities, financing,
financial management, systems, etc.)
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| Long-term
Result: |
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The
company has the capacity to at least triple during the next
five years compared to its best year when operating as a
"home based business". It will be better able to
develop its management team.
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This company is a typical example
of a person with good selling skills who had no formal education or
job experience in building a business. The founder possessed great
selling skills, and product knowledge that was considered invaluable
to potential customers. Until our firm became involved, there was a
self-limiting belief that the business would best be kept small and
that keeping overhead down (by operating out of the house) was less
risky than creating a rapid growth plan. While certainly fraught
with numerous challenges, the owners discovered that rapid growth is
sometimes essential for survival in the long run. They also learned
it is "manageable" and does not necessarily mean
"chaos".
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