In this special interview during the launch of their
magazine Biz Titans, GBSH Consult offers tips, insights and best practices
regarding how to achieve accelerated and sustained business growth.
Q: What is
the difference between a Business Incubator and a Business Accelerator?
GBSH: A Business
Incubator is focusing on getting a company off the ground, typically from idea
to “Something”, from zero revenues to the first couple millions in annual
revenue. A Business Accelerator takes over where the incubator left off,
helping the company get to the next level through a business acceleration
program.
While a Business incubator helps with office space,
mentorship and connections, a Business Accelerator helps a ‘started-up’, or
established mid-size company with professional services, management consulting,
developing a strategic focus for the company and working with the executives at
a company on a daily basis to execute on that strategy and achieve accelerated
and sustained growth.
Q: What are
some ways that you help small- and medium-sized companies achieve a significant
and sustainable impact that translates into higher profitability, sustained
growth and social impact?
GBSH: The way we
help them is through a structured approach. Since 1997, we have helped over 400
companies in industries as diverse as agriculture and technology to achieve, on
average, a 30% revenue increase the first year after acceleration. We do this
through a 5 months acceleration program, in which we do an assessment of the
company against best practices and help them in terms of strategic focus,
business processes, talent and finances.
For example, we
helped a tech company which had reached a revenue plateau switch their
strategic focus to become a customer service company and grow exponentially.
Q: What are some ways that you help your clients’
develop and strengthen the relationships with which the companies partner ?
GBSH: Once we have
accelerated a company we know them well enough to know their core competencies,
so we can introduce them to either other clients we are accelerating where we
see there could be some synergies, as well as with large corporations in our
eco-system for a potential joint venture in a new market for to develop a new
product line, as well as for an eventual investment or acquisition.
Q: What advice
would you give to a small company considering expanding into international
markets?
GBSH: I would
suggest for them not to “go it alone”. There is a better and faster chance of
success for them if they partner with the right person, institution or organization
that knows the playing field in the new markets and how business is done there,
as well as access to the local suppliers and distribution channels. Building
that from scratch is possible, but it takes much more time and resources than
to partner with someone.
Q: Can you
provide some tips to our readers when it comes to looking for investments?
GBSH: It is much
easier to get funded if you know exactly what the money will be used over the
next two to five years. No one has a crystal ball, but having reasonable
assumptions on the table will help your credibility when presenting to
investors. I would also recommend looking for “smart money” and not just money.
What I mean by this is that the investor needs to bring more than just money,
but also great contacts in either the markets you are trying to get into, or
the suppliers you need to get in touch with.
Q: Can you
talk a bit about your ambitious plans of stretching global offices around the
world in the next couple of years? How much have you had to tailor the strategy
and approach of each office to fit in with the specific business culture there?
GBSH: Very good question.
We strongly believe in the value of the GBSH Consult network and we are
starting to see the benefits of this. A lot of our clients in emerging markets
are coming to us to help them create a presence in the global marketplace,
either by soft-landing there, relocating or finding the right organization for
them to partner with. Similarly, some of the companies we are accelerating in
the global marketplace want to have either a production or commercial presence
in the emerging markets we have a presence on, so we are helping them with
those activities. The more offices we have around the world, the more valuable
that network becomes and the more value we can bring to our customers in terms
of cross-border trading and strategic partnerships.
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GBSH Consult Business Accelerator is a program under the GBSH Consult Group that helps small- and
medium-sized companies grow to become the next generation of market leaders.
Their Business Acceleration Program enables accelerated and sustained growth
for small and medium-sized companies seeking to reach that second level of
growth.
This interview was previously published on Biz
Titans.
