The 3 stages of business development

Unique Challenges

Each stage has different challenges to overcome and requires different management skills:

Startup challenges Obtaining work Juggling different hats/roles So many things are new Appearing professional	Adolescent challenges Trying to manage this growing beast! How to get your people working together effectively Clarifying who will be responsible for what Determining how work will be efficiently done, without your micro management Drawing a line in the sand about what you do and don't do, as you realise not all work is profitable	Mature challenges Managing the complexity and size Making individual parts/units manageable without losing the synergies and leverage of how units fit into business strategies Turning high level strategies into day to day, ongoing results Continuing to innovate and grow
Typical startup solutions Take any work you get Multitask Make it up as you go	Typical adolescent solutions Try to figure the above out yourself Expect your staff to sort the above out Ignore the above and watching your profitability decline while your blood pressure soars.	Typical mature solutions Create separate units/departments Undertake 'Strategic Planning' & 'Strategy Rollout' Formalise more of the organisation's processes Centralise decision-making Undergo Change Management
Startup management need Time management Be a 'Jack of all trades' Be effective and economical Identify early points of leverage	Adolescent management need Strategy clarification Organisational design - who does what, when and to what standard Systems development - decide how we get the work done People management - how to enable your people to perform their best - individually and together Feedback development - ensuring you have the necessary information to understand how your business is performing and where it can improve.	Mature management need Strategy articulation in a way that all staff understand Strategic alignment that ensures all units understand how they work together and how they contribute Strategy implementation - how to turn long term strategy into daily action and results. Employee engagement that energises and develops the business
	The irony of adolescence... Management probably doesn't come any harder than this.  At a time when you are starting to develop your management skills you are actually required to have a more comprehensive understanding of management issues than a manager in a bigger, more established business.  This is because you are not only managing on a day to day basis - you are also setting up the whole management structure and mechanisms in your evolving business so it can continue to grow profitably.  Activate's Ignite , Thrive  and Leverage are specifically designed for adolescent businesses.	The irony of maturity... Just when you think you have made to the top and you can call all the shots...surprise you'll need even greater collaboration and enabling skills. A large business is a hairy beast with lots of complexity.  It takes clear thinking to understand how all the units/parts work best together and even clearer communication to explain it all.  As the leader you need to be able to articulate a clear identity and direction for your business in a way that all the parts can understand and identify with.  Then you need to ensure that your management mechanisms facilitate alignment, collaboration and achievement by all your units and people. Activate's Equip, Align and Advance are specifically designed for mature businesses.

Activate are management consultants specialising in helping adolescent and mature businesses achieve better results through more effective management.

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