One of the most difficult aspects of scaling a business is alignment. You could be the head of a $500m division or the leader of a 25 person manufacturer but you will struggle with alignment. Getting different departments on the same page, getting people pointing in the same direction is the essence of leadership. And the biggest win often ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Ian Smith
Way back in 1987 when I leapt from Thomson the publishing giant after a fantastic 5 year spell, to join Barrie Pearson, a one man band, M&A guru who was charging $1000 per hour (that’s $2440 in today’s money), I always believed the small guy could win. Today the evidence is overwhelming that if ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Ian Smith
It is never easy raising money. There are clearly more options today than ever before but it’s still very tough. Are there tried and trusted techniques to turn investors on? Well over the years we’ve raised a lot of money for shareholders and made many mistakes on the way. Here are 15 big mistakes most teams ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Ian Smith
Sales professionals are always under pressure to build their pipeline and then crush it! But what’s working to really progress leads all the way to the bank? How do you progress deals in today’s uncertain environment. This is what’s working in the teams I’m driving:
Posted by: Ian Smith
Scaling a business gives you options. The more you scale the more options you have. You attract better qualified candidates for openings. You attract better prospects and close bigger sales deals. You create a more robust business, better aligned and certainly more predictable. Your story becomes more confident and compelling. This drives further options that you ...
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In a remarkable announcement covered by the FT, Mondelez International, the former Kraft snack food group, is changing its payment terms to 120 days. Wow, there’s some real arrogance right there. Cash hoarding by large groups has caused the percentage of cash relative to total assets in their balance sheets to be at ...
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Continue Reading →Posted by: Ian Smith
Successful execution requires a contrarian mindset, otherwise we would all be great at it! What do I mean? To successfully complete difficult tasks requires a different approach, a unique perspective, a contrarian mindset:
On May 15th the WSJ posted a piece called Wanted: More Directors with Digital Savvy. The first line read: “Nearly every facet of corporate life has gone digital. But many public-company boards remain stuck in analog mode.” Forget public companies, what about all companies.
I’ve pulled together a little checklist of stuff we ...
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Ram Charan wrote the best selling book Know-How – 8 Skills that separate people who perform from those that don’t. I see entrepreneurs struggling with know-how every day. You know what you know. So I’ve assembled 20 laconic tips acquired during my 30 years in business. I really tried hard to learn from each of ...
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