Market Size and Growth

To build a high growth large business you have to target markets that large are growing. Large markets that are not growing or are declining are avoidable, since they are most likely to have incumbents who can create highly competitive environments. This makes it impossible for new entrants and growth comes at the cost of profits. Growing markets by themselves are not enough as they may never become large enough. So, when it comes to markets, size matters!

As you can imagine, there are lot of details related to understanding, sizing and pursuing the target markets. However, the single most important thing to build a high growth large business is to target high growth large markets.

Think of it as the rising tide that lifts all boats!

Compelling products or services

Once you have identified the target market where you understand the customer's changing or growing needs, the next step is to identify compelling products or services that customers will be willing to pay for. What will customers pay for? How much? Why should they buy your product or service?

Human beings are creatures of habits. This prevails in markets where the customers are consumers or businesses. The key here is make your offering fit their buying habits. For consumers, it could mean having your product available in attractive packaging at their favorite store. For business, it could mean making your products and service available in a form that business buyers are used to purchasing.

Sustainable competitive advantage

So you are able to build and offer something unique to customers in a large and growing market. Great! But as soon as you do this, guess what will happen? Others will notice and they will modify their offering and compete with you. So what will enable you to survive? It could be unique technology. It could be a fine tuned business process. It could be exclusive market access or relationships. Whatever it is, you should know it and continue to build on it.

Think of this as the iron cage that will lock your customers in. Or as the moat filled with alligators and crocodiles that will save you from the attacking enemy. Widen that moat, strengthen that iron cage

Management and advisory team

If you are pursuing a rapidly growing large market, you will need high quality people to help you execute your plan.

You will need a "Master Mind" group of advisers or board members who are removed from day-to-day operations and can provide unbiased advice to enable you to make critical strategic decisions. You will also need a team of people experienced in the markets you pursue and with the kind of products and services you offer. Get the right people on the bus and seat them in the right place. You will need to align their incentives and pay and create bench-strength in case any of them gets hit by a bus (or needs to be let off the bus).

Financing

To pursue high growth large markets needs growth financing. It could be money needed to hire the management team and for the gestation period before they can deliver. Or, it could be the working capital needed to financing the manufacturing of inventory. Or it could be the sales and marketing costs that will be incurred when you take a new product to market and before the product will generate revenues.

This could be financed from existing operations cash-flow, through debt financing, through line of credit or through equity financing. What is important here is that a financial blueprint be established and the practice of reviewing actual vs. forecast be put in place. Building a network and some partners within the financial community would also be valuable.

Yes, this is a lot of things. Yes, this is neither easy nor quick. But then, only less than 0.15% companies started each year are able make the mark, ten years later!