Introduction
Every successful business eventually outgrows what made it successful. This paper presents a case for why leaders must be confident in developing the future market position of their business; to enable next phase growth.
Growth is often described as a question of scale. Grow revenue. Expand into new markets. Launch new products. Recruit more people. Acquire complementary businesses. Increase market share.
At some point, the business becomes something different from the one the market first came to know. Capabilities evolve. Expertise deepens. Customer relationships mature. New services emerge. The organisation begins solving more valuable and more strategic problems than it did only a few years earlier.
And this presents opportunity. It requires the leadership to fundamentally determine what the business will be in the future. This means deciding what it does, what it offers, to who and how that’s best positioned to the market to support the next phase of significant growth, beyond how it is able to grow on its current trajectory.
Every phase of growth creates a different business
Few organisations remain defined by the capabilities that made them successful.
- A specialist consultancy develops proprietary methodologies and intellectual property.
- A software provider becomes an operational platform.
- A manufacturer evolves into an innovation partner.
- A regional business builds international capability.
- A service company becomes a source of strategic advice rather than additional capacity.
Each phase raises fundamental questions of how the business should evolve strategically in the right direction to sustain and grow it further.
It raises questions around what the right strategic direction is and how to de-risk shifts and evolution of the business.
It raises questions around how the leadership ensures employees are with them on the journey and customers; investors and potential acquirers understand what the business is becoming and value the strategic opportunity it represents.
The central risk is the business advances while marketing understanding lags far behind, which slows down growth and impacts investments.
The signs a business has outgrown its position
Most leadership teams’ sense when their market position is no longer keeping pace with the organisation, even if they struggle to articulate why.
- Marketing campaigns become generic and focused on tactical capabilities
- Sales conversations become increasingly focused on explaining capabilities that customers did not realise existed.
- Potential clients compare the business with competitors that no longer represent its true peer group.
- Pricing becomes difficult because the market evaluates the organisation against outdated expectations.
- Recruitment becomes harder because prospective employees fail to recognise the scale of opportunity the business now offers.
- Leadership repeatedly finds itself saying, “We’re much more than that.”
These are all signals that the organisation has evolved beyond the position it currently occupies in the market. Recognising these signals early allows leaders to reposition from a position of strength rather than reacting to declining momentum.
Positioning is a leadership responsibility
Positioning is often delegated to marketing. Brand development, communications and messaging all play important roles, but they cannot define what the organisation is becoming.
Only leadership can do that. Positioning begins with strategic choices.
- What role should the business play in its customers’ future success?
- What distinctive capabilities will define the organisation over the next five years rather than the last five?
- What market should competitors believe the organisation occupies?
- How should employees describe the business to someone encountering it for the first time?
These are leadership questions because they influence investment decisions, innovation priorities, partnerships, talent acquisition and commercial strategy.
Communications should express strategic intent. It cannot and should not determine it.
Markets compare and buy what they understand. Position for it
Markets rarely evaluate every capability a business possesses. Instead, they simplify:
- Customers categorise organisations according to what they believe they do best.
- Investors group businesses into recognisable sectors.
- Partners decide where an organisation fits within their own strategic priorities.
These mental shortcuts are necessary. They also mean that perception frequently lags behind what the business actually has become and will change into.
This is why two organisations with similar capabilities can achieve very different growth paths and valuations. One is recognised for solving high-value strategic problems. The other remains associated with the services that established its reputation years before.
The difference is not always capability. Often, it is market positioning. Positioning determines which opportunities an organisation is considered for, which conversations it is invited into and ultimately the role it occupies within its market.
Businesses do not simply compete on what they do. They compete on what they are understood to be and what they will be in the future.
Five questions for every leadership team
Organisations preparing for their next phase of growth should regularly ask themselves five simple questions.
- Does our current market position accurately reflect the business we are becoming?
- If we launched the business today, would we describe it in the same way?
- Are customers buying us for yesterday’s strengths or tomorrow’s capabilities?
- Which assumptions about our business no longer serve our future ambitions?
- Are we deliberately shaping the position we want to occupy, or allowing history to define it for us?
The answers often reveal opportunities that operational improvements alone cannot unlock. Sustained growth is rarely achieved by doing more of the same. The leaders who continue to outperform recognise this moment.
They understand that growth is not only about expanding capability, it is about answering fundamental questions about what the business will be in the future and ensuring that this is understood by its people and the market.
They do not wait for the market to determine what the business will become. They define that future themselves.