Situation: A CEO seeks advice on the direction of her company. Her objective is to build a lasting company which is a wonderful place to work. She has a creative group of employees who have suggested options to expand the scope of the company. Should she maintain the current direction or entertain exploration of these options? Do you diversify or stay the course?

Advice from the CEOs:

• With a solid, sustainable business model and the current level of revenue, diversification is not as important as it was when the company was a fraction of its current size. Current objectives could well be reached by just doing more of what the company does now.
• The most important question to ask is: “What do we want from this or that option?”
• Concerning the top opportunity under consideration, the group felt that:
  • It’s not the company’s core business and doesn’t play to the company’s strengths.
  • However, there are aspects of the opportunity that fit both the company and the existing client base. These represent an opportunity that fit’s the company’s culture.
  • Explore these aspects in small steps that do not detract from the current business.
• If culture is a key ingredient of the company’s offering, how scalable is this, particularly into new markets? Look for ways to grow that are consistent with the strong culture that already exists.
• Improve selling the full breadth of the company’s offering. The company offers many services that may be of interest to clients, but which are not mentioning in initial sales calls.
  • In sales presentations focus on the client, rather than a detailed description of the service offering. Offer clients a small brochure that covers the range of the company’s services.
  • By focusing on clients’ needs it is easier to selectively mention options that will serve these needs.

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