1. Managing growth
Super-project.eu

2. From start up to scale up
Each venture typically goes through different stages of development – a simplification - each stage requires different strategies and management techniques to make the venture successful
Figure 1: Financial performance and stages of new venture development (Smith et al., 2011)

3. Scale up strategies The four basic growth strategy modes:
Market penetration
Market development
Product/service development
Diversification
Growth strategy must be consistent with firm’s capabilities, its competitive advantage, and the competitive situation

4. The dimensions of business growth
Business growth is a dynamic process involving development and change within an organization, as well as changes in its interaction with environment
Growth and development of the venture must be understood from many perspectives, mainly:
Financial,
Strategic,
Structural,
Organizational.

5. Financial growth
Related to the development of the business as a commercial entity.
Concerned with increases in:
Turnover,
Costs,
Investment needed to achieve the turnover,
Resulting profits.
Company’s assets.
Value of the company, i.e. what a potential buyer would be willing to pay for it.

6. Strategic growth
Relates to changes in how business interacts with its environment in a strategic whole.
Concerned with developing capabilities to exploit market presence, incl. selection of opportunities and acquiring assets to create sustainable competitive advantage
Must be at the heart of the growth process
All competitive advantages are sensitive to business growth:
Cost advantage
Knowledge advantage
Relationship advantages
Structural advantage

7. Structural growth
Factors driving the structure of the organization as it grows:
Organization size
Operational technology
Organization strategy
The organization’s environment
Power, control and organizational politics

8. Organizational growth
Implies the need to design and create an organization.
One of the approaches is to:
Consider the resource requirements, and
Design its structure around them.
Particular functions are then formed to manage acquisition of these resources
In addition, the complete organization will include two more functions:
Operational system
Strategic control function

9. Consolidating the venture
At some stage, the growth slows and company becomes mature – it has to undergo a process of consolidation
Maturity - much more than a simple slowdown of growth - number of changes in the following main aspects:
Finance
Strategy
Structure
Organization

10. Harvesting, business exits and exit strategies
At a certain stage, entrepreneur can decide to exit the business and harvest by realizing its value
Plans and expectations towards the exit should be clarified from the very beginning
VCs and investors normally negotiate harvesting options at the time of the initial investment
Two basic exit/harvesting alternatives:
Selling to outsiders
Selling to insiders

11. Thank You !