There are very few one-size-fits-all approaches to starting and running a company. Every founder, every Vision, every product brings unique nuance and specifications to the process of creating and scaling a business.
But there are certain rules and universal truths that you, as a founder, should know if you want to lay the groundwork for an eventual Stage Five company or beyond. I’ve touched on a few of these truths within this Grow or Die series, and today, I’m sharing another one: In order to grow smartly and successfully, you must determine the right size for your organization.
Read more on this subject in Grow or Die #4: Finding Your Organizational Fit.
Rightsizing, or converting something to an optimal size, is the key to balancing growth with organizational health. One of the all-too-common mistakes made by founders of small to midsize organizations is scaling way too fast in a short amount of time, leading to operational dysfunction, poor financial decisions, leadership strain, and a laundry list of other problems. We see evidence of this in the form of workforce reductions (aka “downsizing,” which is reactive, whereas rightsizing is proactive), a decline in the quality of a company’s product or service, high employee turnover, and even public relations issues.
Your specific organization’s optimal size will depend on a variety of factors — goals, resources, and market opportunities, to name a few. My new blog (linked above) offers further tips and insights on how to assess these factors so you can stay on track to achieve sustainable growth — and, just as important, avoid losing momentum.
