The idea of building a successful business is appealing to almost everyone who has ever knotted up a tie to their starched dress shirt. Any seasoned entrepreneur, however, will tell you that the trick to doing it right is much like playing a game of Chess: you need to be able to see thee to four moves ahead of where you are today.
The same philosophy can be applied to growing a successful staffing firm. The easier part of the equation is landing clients and building out a team of consultants who engage in weekly projects — much like constructing a tower. Numbers look great, projections look great, and at a quick glance, the firm looks to be growing with wild success.
However, any CEO who has experienced those exciting growing pains will tell you, there is a better way! The key lies in building your company support infrastructure before you experience the wildly exciting growth. You have to construct a pyramid within your company. It may seem necessary in the beginning to ‘boot strap’ together a support team because your focus is on the bottom line. However, focusing on the infrastructure first and ensuring that scalable systems are in place to handle the growth, along with the right key operations people who can execute growth plans and support daily operations leads to building a strong foundation that can grow from the bottom up.
Many companies spend their early years building and flying the plane at the same time. At some point, companies have to commit their resources and focus to building out their infrastructure to support where they know they will be in 18 to 24 months. It’s a big leap of faith, but one well worth making if you believe that your team can deliver.
It is a well-known fact, although sometimes overlooked, that the very consultants you employ are the most important and valuable piece of the company. Having a support team in place to make their work lives easier and more convenient is critical. The best companies in the market are those that can successfully retain and re-deploy their consultant teams. You only accomplish that by providing them with obsessive customer service and truly making them the most important part of your company operations. They, in effect, are the top of the pyramid that your entire internal staff is supporting.
It should also not be overlooked that by doing this, you build a company that will endure and last over time. We all know that storms will come … would you rather be a pyramid or a leaning tower in times of high turbulence?
