Small Biz: Who is your business quarterback?
Applying lessons from the field in the board room
By Jean D. Sifleet
Building a successful company requires having a strong team and making smart decisions.
When a company is going through a growth period, it is common for the owners to become strung out and exhausted with the day-to-day details. This is like becoming lost in the "trees" (details and problems) and losing sight of the "forest" (competitive marketplace).
How do you decide what to do first? You can't afford to add staff and equipment until the revenue is there - but if you wait too long, you won't be able to handle a higher volume of business successfully.
Sometimes sports metaphors work. A quarterback is the one calling the shots on the field. In the business context, your "quarterback" helps you to think strategically about your business growth (game plan), anticipating and avoiding problems.
Your "quarterback" can be a single advisor or a team (board of advisors). Before you make key decisions, it's wise to seek advice. For example, to handle a higher volume of business, you'll need to have a plan for these key areas:
1. What infrastructure do you need? Systems, technology, applications?
2. What skills do you need? Will you hire employees? contractors? outsource?
3. How will you "train/communicate" to get the results that you want?
4. How will you control quality Assure a consistent customer experience?
5. How will you handle customer problems?
6. How will you manage suppliers?
7. How will you stay aware of the competition?
8. How will you develop new customers/markets?
9. How will you manage cash flow and receivables?
10. What safeguards will you use for your intellectual property?
As you can see from this list, a growing company faces a broad spectrum of business and legal issues. Legal issues can quickly derail a growing company - such as: failure to have clear contracts, problems with employees, disputes with partners and investors, failure to protect intellectual property (e.g., trademarks, copyrights, and nondisclosure agreements).
In conclusion, controlled growth is great. Out-of-control growth can be disastrous. Before customers start complaining about lateness or poor quality, or a cash flow crunch happens, you need to figure out how you are going to make decisions and prioritize spending.
By borrowing the "quarterback" approach from the sports world, you can seek experienced advisors to help you see the "big picture" as well as avoid legal pitfalls as you grow your business successfully.
Jean D. Sifleet, is a member of the business practice group of the Worcester-based law firm, Hassett & Donnelly PC, and focuses on
counseling privately held companies on a broad range of business matters.
WBJ Web Partners
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