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No Man's Land: What to Do When Your Company is Too Big to Be Small and Too Small to Be Big
By Doug Tatum
Reviewed by Debra Sherman, Beyster Institute Staff
In No Man’s Land, author Doug Tatum paints a strikingly clear picture of the pains and pitfalls that many fast growth companies go through once they move beyond start-up. Some ultimately fail, while others choose to give up rapid growth and remain small. No Man’s Land is a “how-to” for the rest, those that want to maintain or accelerate their rapid growth status while remaining independent companies. According to Tatum’s research, rapid growth companies are vital to our nation’s well-being; they create a disproportionate number of jobs and innovations in our economy.
The book chronicles the various problems that are likely to befall the entrepreneur upon entering no man’s land. Likening this time to adolescence (and who doesn't remember the awkwardness, pain and drama associated with that time in their lives), Tatum adeptly explains where the dangers lie and offers up realistic strategies and tactics for dealing with them.
Many of these fast growth companies find themselves with great demand for their products or services, but they lack the systems, staff, and/or capital to be able to fulfill the demand. The author identifies the problems that usually occur during this period of mismatch between resources and growth opportunities as the four Ms:
- Changes required by the firm’s Market
- Transitions needed in Management
- Scalability of the company’s business Model
- Attracting the necessary Money
Consider market misalignment. In the early stages, the entrepreneur is the company. It is his or her close contact with customers that brings in the business. Under this scenario, the entrepreneur is able to discern and respond to customer requests with speed and quality, and can maneuver the company however needed. But at a certain level, the entrepreneur loses daily contact with customers, which prevents him from seeing the nuances related to what the customer really wants and needs. He can’t continue to foster the innovation that helped build the business. Putting out fires takes more of his time.
It is at this stage that the hard, sometimes tedious work of systematizing the company needs to take place if the company is to be able to continue to enjoy its initial success. According to Tatum, in order to keep the company properly aligned with the market, the company must become good at doing what the entrepreneur did initially to build the company.
At a certain size, companies approach the stage where they need to add staff, expand operations, or perhaps acquire new technology but they often don’t have access to the necessary capital that will allow them to remain privately held and owner controlled. Or they find customer service diminishing or innovation sliding – the things that really clicked to help build the new business are no longer working well. These, too, are some of the signals that the company has entered no man’s land.
The book discusses ideas and solutions to help companies make the needed corrections to be able to emerge from no man’s land with a bright future. In each chapter, Tatum offers a series of questions that will help entrepreneurs think through the problems associated with rapid growth. Real-life examples are peppered throughout the book, telling stories of entrepreneurs who have successfully weathered the same problems and issues that so many others face.
Ultimately, emerging companies will have to stay small, grow significantly larger, or go out of existence due to acquisition or failure. Understanding, anticipating and planning for no man’s land will enhance the entrepreneur’s ability to steer the company in whatever direction he or she desires. This book will be extremely helpful along the way.
©2008 The Beyster Institute and its authors and their entities. All rights reserved.
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