The use of the S-curve in business circles goes back at least to the late 1800s, but gained broader currency in the early 1960s, when Stanford University Professor Everette Rogers published “Diffusion of Innovations”. In this book, Rogers shows how the cumulative sum of adopters of an innovation takes on the shape of the letter S. He then characterises segments of adopters in terms that are still commonly used today. During the dot-com era, the meaning of the phenomenon was adapted to describe the rollout of the new internet related technologies. Best-selling books like Geoffrey Moore’s “Crossing the Chasm” explained how new technology companies could break out of the bottom of the curve and reach the top.
In CSC we found that the term S-curve can be adapted again to explain business performance and the ability to scale up businesses. After all, businesses grow by successfully delivering or implementing multiple actions in strategy, operation, capital, technology, leadership, and innovation. Performance starts slowly as a business takes off and the business experiments to find the best business formula. Then, performance accelerates rapidly as word of the attractiveness of offering spreads, and finally it fades as the market approaches saturation and obsolescence which offer leads to better substitutes.
“Competitive advantage doesn’t go to the nations that focus on creating companies, it goes to nations that focus on scaling companies.” Sherry Coutu CBE
It is not too hard to understand why scaling up a company is difficult. Scaleups grow dozens if not hundreds of times faster than most companies or other organisations. Imagine that in the early financial year there are 10 employees, in few months there are 30, by end of the financial year there are 50 and so on. Who do you report to? Who reports to you? Which customers are buying what?
In growing from 10 to 100 employees, to 500, 1,000 and so on, companies change beyond all recognition, going through different requirements for capital, management, skills, and organisational structure. The people who work within these scale-up companies can experience ‘growing pains’ due to shifting demands. This can derail companies from their rapid growth trajectories and transform business experience during a period of high growth.
When CSC asked entrepreneurs “what prevents them from growing” the feedback was remarkably consistent, and demonstrates the following challenges.
- It is harder for every staff member to be generalist and it became necessary to acquire more experienced and specialised staff members
- Introducing new business processes, procedures, and culture
- Introducing new system and technology platforms
- Developing business leaders with the ability to manage rapid growth
- Attracting appropriate growth capital
- Entering new markets and gaining necessary approvals for new products/services
- Accessing research and development facilities and finding the right premises
Based on the above challenges and market research outcomes, CSC articulated the Scale up Canvas tool that can help businesses scale their businesses and grow to the next level. Our specialty services are to support businesses in achieving the right outcomes to grow in which we cater to all types of businesses all over Australia. A core component here is to provide a holistic review and develop the right business and operational strategy, financial efficiencies, technology, innovation, and leadership. We believe this is critical in order to evaluate business options, directions and structures, and accordingly, provide clients with the most appropriate outputs and solutions.
