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Planning
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The senior team had to learn to do less to build a growth strategy
Beezee Bodies had a problem – ensure senior team members had the capacity to focus on business growth, without compromising on quality or staff experience.
Change your mindset around future planning
Sales & Growth
Article
We identified a target audience and found a global market to tackle seasonality
Cocofina found it challenging to maintain consistent sales throughout the year because of its issues with seasonality – sales suffered in the winter.
Identify target markets
People & Team
Article
Measuring staff performance kept us consistent through change
Putting a structure in place to measure staff performance and give consistent performance reviews to its growing number of employees was key for mmadigital.
Measure staff performance using a defined process
Planning
Article
We took a risk and changed business direction
To succeed in a new market, Natterbox needed to create fresh goals and ensure staff were invested enough to buy into them across the different departments.
Ensure employees buy in to targets
People & Team
Article
We stopped trying to crowbar people into a role needing filled
Rattan Direct had been guilty of shoehorning someone into an in-house role they don’t really want or settling for a new hire who lacked the right skills.
Recruit to succeed
Sales & Growth
Article
We had to hire local talent to expand successfully
When Vuealta started global growth planning the amount of information available was overwhelming. It's solution was to invest in local support and talent.
Prepare for expansion
People & Team
Article
Giving junior staff a voice helped us win in a competitive market
Softwire fell into the trap of assuming the culture of open communication wouldn’t change as it grew, but junior staff stopped approaching the senior team.
Listen to employees
Digital Readiness
Article
We couldn’t build any further without developing our business data
Users of the ShopAppy website were dropping off as changes were based on one or two opinions, rather than prioritising based on user business data.
Develop the use of business data
People & Team
Article
We proved culture beats budget to hold on to our staff
Futrli found it challenging to retain staff as a young SME in the tech market. It had to compete with larger budgets for wages and training at bigger firms.
Provide development opportunities
Article
We had to build machine learning capabilities without sector expertise
Streetbees believed machine learning could unlock the value of the market research it was doing for clients, but didn’t have the sector expertise needed.
Sales & Growth
Article
Building business relationships helped us conquer the education market
When it came to identifying growth channels, Show My Homework turned to building business relationships as a way of knowing when and where to sell.
Build external relationships
People & Team
Article
We built a training culture to survive rapid change
Shopblocks staff needed more time to explore new development areas, but it was hard to find capacity for a training culture without damaging existing work.
Create a training culture
Sales & Growth
Article
Staggering hires helped us do marketing properly
Forecasting firm Futrli found it hard to coordinate marketing with no dedicated team and little budget. Those without the right skills were plugging gaps.
Set a marketing strategy
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Beating a divisive culture helped us improve as leaders
Pork scratchings brand Snaffling Pig faced the challenge of reconciling a divisive culture among staff – one solved through uniting on the same vision.
Improve your own leadership capabilities
Planning
Article
We chose stories over advice to get the most out of our business mentors
HR firm CharlieHR recognised it would need outside help to continue growing the business, in particular growth strategy insight from business mentors.
Develop external contacts
Leadership & Strategy
Article
We used our company’s “why” to steady ourselves during rapid growth
Mojo Mortgages realised growth was making it hard for employees to “buy in” to management decisions being made without communicating across the business.
Structure your approach
People & Team
Article
Our positive performance reviews helped quadruple business revenue
Birmingham-based virtual assistant service Time Etc realised it had developed a culture of low performance and hardworking staff had become demoralised.
Review staff performance twice per year
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Our business is global, but managing a team working remotely is tough
As Formula Botanica has grown it has struggled to find people who won’t “wither” working remotely across England, Belgium, Slovakia and Brazil.
Support your employees
Digital Readiness
Article
Digital apathy stopped our business moving forward
HR firm Jaluch found it challenging to increase digital skills into the business. Digital apathy meant efforts were efforts were greeted with groans.
Build digital skills
Planning
Article
Finding a North Star helped us focus on our future
Nutritionists Beezee Bodies realised it was prioritising immediate, everyday work over tasks that could contribute to long-term business goals.
Develop a comprehensive target-setting process
Leadership & Strategy
Article
As the company grew, we stopped talking about our business values
Accountancy firm The Wow Company found that as the company grew, the visibility of company values suffered and it began hiring what looked good on paper.
Communicate vision and values
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Our company values meant something different to everyone
Fordway learned that its company values meant something different to each employee. Here's how they got staff involved in updating and designing new ones.
Create meaningful vision and values
Leadership & Strategy
Article
We were first in our market, but struggled to define our service
As an early player in the social advertising niche, Mighty Social struggled with how to frame and communicate a relatively unfamiliar offering.
Seek external advice
Planning
Article
My technology failed because I didn’t think big enough
When Formula Botanica realised early on that its technology wasn’t keeping pace with growth it put in place a plan that would provide peace of mind.
Invest in new technology