Training Case Study
SMBs
Providing Small- to Mid-Sized Businesses with Tools to Address Growth Issues
Background
Small- to mid-size companies (SMBs), the drivers of the United States economy, face growth challenges that they sometimes don’t know how to work-through. Stakeholder interviews and conversations with owners revealed a wide range of potentially addressable needs including:
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“my business is growing rapidly but I don’t have the time to step back and ensure operations and products are aligned with continued expansion”;
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“our team has ideas about the brand’s potential but we need an objective perspective to choose the best path”; and
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“my company’s growth has slowed but we’re not sure how to act before things get serious”.
Solutions
Starting with a focus that was ¾ growth and ¼ brand and partnering with another team that had a ¾ brand and ¼ growth focus, I co-developed The SMB Growth Acceleration Program.
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A three session “boot camp” to empower SMB leaders to address growth challenges, the Program created value by balancing strategic frameworks with immediately useful ideas. Modules included: understanding what type of competencies (e.g., product innovation, customer intimacy, or operational efficiency) your business should focus on; framing your competitive set based on this categorization; addressing functional and emotional customer drivers; and selecting an achievable array of growth activities over the short- to mid-term.
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I led the growth modules and my partner led the brand modules.
The well-received inaugural program was held in Chicago and provides a template for a similar or scaled-down offering elsewhere.
Category
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Retail
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Media
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Healthcare
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Wellness
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Medical devices
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Education
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Non-Profits
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CPG
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Financial Services
Type of Business
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Medium Size
Insights
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Category Research and Competitive Analysis
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Stakeholder Interviews, Ethnographic Research, and Customer Experience Mapping
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Workshop Staging
Strategy
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Business Model Development / Refinement and Market Entry Paths
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Brand Positioning, Architecture, Extensions, and Activation
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Lifestyle Branding, Employment Branding, and Brand Education
Implementation
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Development and Alignment with Strategy
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Naming, Tag Line, and Brand Essence Creation
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Retail Design, Collateral, POS, Direct Mail, Site Concept and / or Wire Frame Development