Navigating growth: How to scale without losing your start up ‘spirit’

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, maintaining agility while scaling is no small feat.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of being part of several startups – helping new companies grow and evolve into larger, more structured organisations. While growing pains are inevitable, many can be minimised or even avoided if you continually try hard to keep hold of the advantages in being small and flexible.  i.e. probably the very same things that helped you to start on the road to success in the first place.

The real challenge in management lies in determining which aspects of that early-stage agility can continue to set you apart from the competition and which can be adapted as the company scales. With increased business size comes the inevitable need for a larger and more structured organisation, and more customer-facing roles, yet you always want everyone to retain the approach and the ‘hands on’ touch of the people who started the organisation and defined the ‘culture’ that your customers seem to like.

The initial management team can no longer be involved in all aspects of the operations; new managers need to develop and grow themselves, but whilst not losing the personal touch and approach which the first customers liked and trusted. And trust is probably the key word in successfully managing such growth.  The senior management team has to trust the new managers to develop the company in the right way – within the guidelines they are given.  Trust them to continually question the need for complexity over simplicity and process over agility.  In moments of uncertainty, they should always choose the path that preserves the trust of both existing and future customers and employees.

@Platned is a prime example of a company very successfully navigating these challenges. As they continue to grow—doubling in size each year over the last 3-4 years—they’ve maintained the trust and respect that characterised and defined the early days of the company. This trust has been a cornerstone of their ability to evolve as they grow – offering great opportunities to new employees and future managers, whilst also retaining their customers by continually providing them with the same levels of flexible and trusted support. Loyal customers from around the world who have trusted us to grow with them. Customers like @Wellness Pet Food, @Sumi Agro, and @Mid West Ports.  Long may it continue!

These lessons resonate strongly with the journey of every business striving to scale up without losing touch with the very essence of what initially made them successful. It’s a constant effort, but when done well, the rewards are tremendous.