When I engage with private equity companies, I’m always startled by how little they know about how to use interim resources efficiently and effectively. Identifying skilled interim help can be critical for a variety of reasons that are frequently ignored at private equity (P/E) portfolio companies. Interim professionals can be strategically recruited to a company’s team to help with a range of tasks, including navigating a merger or acquisition, implementing new processes, and serving as a necessary stop gap between incoming and outgoing management.
Interim talent selection is also a critical decision, therefore it’s crucial to understand the specific conditions in which a temporary resource is hired and how it might assist the portfolio firm the most.
Interim support is brought in for a limited time, usually one to three months, to a P/E-backed company. When the temporary associate is introduced to the P/E-backed company, he or she must hit the ground running. Adaptability is important for more than just performing professional assignments. When it comes to dealing with organizational culture, an interim professional’s capacity to acclimatize to a new environment can be very valuable. A good interim resource should be able to deal with a variety of divisions inside the company and understand best practices for interacting with the private equity board.
When you bring in a resource with a positive attitude and the experience to understand why they’re there and what they need to accomplish, they’ll be able to integrate into an existing team much more quickly than someone who has the appropriate interpersonal and communication skills. Interpersonal skills of an interim executive aid private equity leadership because they allow the associate to analyze financial data in a clear, succinct manner, resulting in constructive, streamlined interactions while evaluating financials and identifying solutions.
When seeking for interim support for a portfolio company, many private equity firms make the mistake of looking for someone with the same skill set as a full-time CFO. Once the transaction is completed, the interim resource should be employed to complete crucial and short-term goals for the organization, and the skill set of this resource will be determined by the specific duties. When the short-term demands are centered on more sophisticated aspects of finance, such as debt restructuring, liquidity, cash management, and so on, bringing in an Interim CEO is often the ideal solution.
Because an interim solution is often only with a company for three months, it is simple for the resource to maintain objectivity and avoid office politics. A unbiased viewpoint on company processes and procedures is quite helpful. Without an affected posture or existing internal ties, an objective approach may easily determine which areas could use improvement, additional support, and/or where cuts are needed. To honestly examine and comment on the state of the portfolio firm, the suitable interim executive provides confidence and impartiality to the job.
Interim solutions may not have the same resume as the permanent executive you’re searching for, but they still have a lot of experience helping similar firms in the tasks you’re looking for them to fill. The associate should ideally have prior experience supporting a private-equity-owned company, as well as the technical and functional skill sets, as well as a category and/or industry expertise, to make an early impact. In a short period of time, the correct interim resource for your portfolio firm can help optimize operations and identify critical internal needs. As a result, hiring an interim resource is a wise decision and a worthwhile investment for your private equity-backed company.
International Executive Consulting LLC is a leading provider of interim solutions in the United States. We have a wealth of knowledge and an expert staff that will look after your growth and expansion strategy, advisory board, and management, and will offer your firm an immediate boost. Visit us today for more information!
Do you know how the top businesses in the world continue to be successful? The answer lies deep within their growth strategies. Every successful business employs growth strategies that fit with its business goal and morals. It also complements their workforce and abides with government rules and regulations.
When every factor is perfectly placed, a growth strategy can reap benefits for any business. There are many such business growth strategies available at your disposal. Below is a list of 4 growth strategies you should use for your business:
Often businesses deal with their products successfully in a specific market. To improve, using the Market expansion growth strategy, a business can tap into previously unexplored markets where they can sell their existing products.
These markets necessarily don’t have to be domestic. A business can tap into international markets as well. Finding new customers helps a business improve its sales and profits, thereby increasing brand authority.
Market penetration allows you to plan how your business can grow in an existing market with competitors selling similar products. This is the least risky strategy as compared to the others.
Here, you will fight to steal as much market share as possible. But this strategy needs a lot of work and will involve pricing, product positioning, and marketing. There is a way you can calculate market penetration rate to understand how much of a product you are selling as compared to the total estimated market for that product.
What do your customers want? Is your product/s adding value in your customer’s life? These are the questions you need to answer. Listen to your customers and their needs. If your product is partially fulfilling it, then you can get it improved. If not, then you can create a new product with high value for your customers as they are willing to pay for it.
For a business to be successful using this strategy, adequate research, an understanding of customer wants, and needs are important.
Also considered as the riskiest growth strategy in the Ansoff Matrix, growth via diversification can take place when a business enters a new market with a new product. You can reduce the risk by related diversification.
E.g. A car company can start working on stereo systems for vehicles or a leather shoe producer can start selling leather wallets in a new market.
Another way of diversification is by selling a new product that has no synergy with your business. The plus point here is that if successful, it will open a new revenue stream for the business.
Some More Growth Strategies:
When your market share cannot grow, or the profit level is almost saturated, you can resort to acquiring smaller competitors who are either growing or weak. Doing this gets you more customers and a higher market share.
There are various channels of distribution available in the market, like wholesalers & retailers. Normally a business takes help from either wholesalers or retailers. If you can see a better impact using both, then do take help from both channels.
You cannot sell one product at one rate forever. It is not profitable and realistic to do so. Hence periodically, a price increase for each product is understood by customers. They too know that each year, costs are increasing, and hence it is natural to witness a price increase.
Lastly, Brand USP is one of the most important growth strategies. Does your product have a certain feature, quality, benefit, that is more advanced than any other similar product in the market? If there is something that sets you apart from the competition and matters to your customers, that means they will be ready to pay for that product easily.
Conclusion:
These are some of the best growth strategies that are important for a business. They help to survive, improve market share + customer base, gain profits, and do this continuously.
Need help executing these strategies for your business? With over 20+ years of experience in growth & expansion strategies, International Executive Consulting LLC is the best growth & expansion consulting firm in the USA across diverse industries. Get in touch with us!
A small business does not need to make large-scale changes in its business processes to massively increase profits. Here we provide five strategies that you can use to improve your business. Today we will go to a system that you can use to increase your profit margin. By using this system, your profit margin can increase.
Increase Your Customer Base:
To increase the number of people who will come and buy from you, it will take time to develop a good marketing strategy. First, find the key differentiators. Examine the products that make you unique and attractive to potential buyers. After doing this one can find a place that can be tapped into, start working on specific marketing strategies to attract those customers.
The key is to streamline the sales process. At that point, the entire process is no longer driven by you, but by the system, and the sales process can be repeated over and over. You will continue to attract customers to your business without joining your marketing or sales team.
Increase in Number of Repeat Customers:
The more buyers, the more profit. Despite repeated sales, it does not take action and is getting those customers to repurchase your products. Providing excellent service is the basis, but it is not enough. Give customers a reason to return and you can do so by asking them to return. Deepen your relationship with them by adding to mailing lists, offering catalogs, and loyalty cards to name a few. Repeat opportunities for your customers to revisit your business
Increase in Average Selling Price:
Explore ways to sell more than one product at a time. This can be done by cross-selling; For example, see which products are related or complementary and offer customers to buy more plans than before. Refer to a customer for a product of a higher value or better deal (this may be more profitable for you), known as up-selling. Another example of increasing the average selling price is to bundle products together (a low-margin product with a high-margin product, one that sells well with someone who does not, etc.).
Increase Profit:
To increase profitability, focus on operational efficiency and avoid discounts. If it is a small business, the exemption should be at the bottom of the list. Sometimes they are unavoidable, such as when some products are not selling and they are replacing. These exemptions are a requirement but should not be used as a business strategy for profit growth. Find out how many of those items need to be sold to reach the same profit margin.
Reduce Costs to Increase Your Profit Margin:
Then, improve operational efficiency and minimize overhead costs. Keep in mind that some overhead costs are highly beneficial for the business, so be cautious about which costs are being cut; Do not take a reverse step.
Indicate the things that should cost more than them or at all. Adopt lean thinking and help cut the drains. By learning how to increase your profit margin, you will be able to run a successful business.
Visit International Executive Consulting LLC and we can help you. For more information about the C Level Executive, please see us by clicking here.