John's Blog

How many times have you said to yourself, and others that you work with, that it's time to raise your company's game to the next level?  Often, when I've heard people make this statement, there is dramatic music playing in the background, as if some shrouded mystery from years gone by will suddenly be revealed.  Through this miracle the company will be transformed, magically.  Alright, I may have gone too far with that last bit...

What are the keys to reaching the next level?  Often the steps to reaching this new height are not complicated.

• First, what does "reaching the next level" mean to you?  In general people are considering how to push past key revenue milestones like $1, $10, $20, $50, and $100 million in revenue, is this what you mean?
• Take time to honestly review every aspect of your business.  Where are you falling short?  Are you failing to close deals in your pipeline?  Do you lack experience with social media?  Is your engineering team hitting their committments?  Are you qualified to lead your group/company at this juncture?
  • Is your marketplace big enough to achieve that next milestone?
  • Do you have the right strategy in place?
  • Is the strategy clear to you and everyone else?
  • Have you and your teams defined, and bought into, the tactics that will move you forward?
  • Are your teams organized properly to execute the tactics?
  • Do you have the right skills in place?
• People will often want to skip the questions above and simply start hiring.  Those people generally fail.

After you have clearly defined your goals and thoughtfully determined the changes that are required execute immediately. Do not hesitate in doing what is required.  Your competition surely will not.

John