Building the System While the Company Scaled
The Situation
A private-equity-owned company operating at roughly $75 million, growing fast, with no standardized way of operating. Business units performed inconsistently, and leadership could not reliably tell which ones were in trouble until the trouble was visible in the financials. Forecasting was unreliable enough that planning was largely guesswork. The flagship business unit was the worst performer in the system.
This is the scaling transition in its most literal form: a company that had outgrown the informal system that built it.
What Was Done
The flagship unit came first — a full turnaround covering the operating model, the cost structure, the offering portfolio (reduced from 56 programs to 24 to concentrate on what actually worked), and the culture. Worst to first in 16 months.
That became the template. Across the region, the work was building the infrastructure the company had never had: standardized departmental KPIs, defined operating policies and procedures, consistent management routines for business unit leadership, and management reporting that made performance visible at the corporate level. Annual strategic planning was run with each business unit and translated into integrated, metric-based operating plans.
With that system in place, the company could open new units and integrate acquisitions without each one improvising — including launching an entirely new division and brand, the first of its kind in the country.
What Changed
- Company revenue from $75M to $350M* over four years
- Flagship unit revenue from $12M to $24M; named Business Unit of the Year
- Forecast accuracy improved substantially*
- Employee turnover down 60%; employee satisfaction up 70%
- Multiple greenfield units opened* and a new division launched
Relevant if: you are adding locations, products, or people faster than you are adding the processes to manage them.