20 LAWYER MONTHLY OCTOBER 2024 demand; and the operational efficiencies that exist, don’t exist, are developing, or are being ignored. The mindset of leadership also plays a crucial role. Questions that I may engage in may look like the following: Is there room in the market? Is the client an incumbent or a new entrant? Is the client creating a niche? Is the market flourishing? Has a target within the market been identified? Does the product or service have longevity? Do barriers to entry make it easier to compete? Are existing barriers weakening market position? How can we prepare now to defend or advance if barriers come down? Can we leverage compliance to more fully energize ideation and development? Is there a problem that is being solved? Has a problem been considered at all? Is the problem being solved the right problem to solve? Have they discovered the job to be done? Has this problem, job, and the solve been effectively communicated, trained on, bought in? Is the product or service desired? For how long? Can the product or service be fortified, diversified, or further differentiated? Is there demand? Is there enough demand? Can demand be created? Does OE exist? Is the OE developed based on sound considerations? Is there any correlation between the OE and the desired growth? Does the OE positively impact revenue? that stands out to me comes from Sutton and Rao: “Effective scaling depends on believing and living a shared mindset throughout your group, division, or organization. Scaling is analogous to a ground war rather than an air war because developing, spreading, and updating a mindset requires relentless diligence. It requires stating the beliefs and living the behavior, and then doing so again and again. These shared convictions reduce confusion, disagreements, and unnecessary dead ends—and diminish the chances that excellence will fade as your footprint expands.” With that in mind, I believe supporting scaling from a legal or compliance perspective involves asking questions followed by development based on client responses. In my role as outside counsel, I don’t look for specific factors to scale a business or identify potential clients. Every business looks and functions differently, including if, when, and how to scale. At our firm, we leverage our knowledge and experience to contribute to our clients’ scaling considerations when the opportunity arises. It can be difficult to determine scalability based on initial or limited interactions with clients. However, some key factors stand out: the market in which the client operates; the product or service being offered; the problem being solved; a responder to an anticipator. Going back to your earlier question about keeping C-suite informed, I carry with me what matters to our clients or what is happening in relevant industries that could impact them. I then attempt to anticipate the issue and prepare our clients and team to either be proactive or effectively responsive. I also consider the temperament and bandwidth of our clients to ensure we handle matters with appropriate care and make interactions as efficient and actionable as possible. Additionally, the role has evolved from being a doer to a collaborative creator. Initially, requests were for direct support on specific projects. Now, calls are expansive, encompassing evaluations of pending C-suite members for corporations, support on business decisions impacting company strategy, collaboration with PR professionals on corporate matters and crisis management, and ideation around workplace culture. This evolved role requires significant time spent digging into materials, studies, literature, and governmental actions, all aimed at providing counsel focused on business and compliance. What are the key factors you consider when helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses, particularly from a legal and governance perspective? This is an interesting question. When I use “scale,” I generally refer to the ability to increase revenue while maintaining or reducing input. For me, I continuously work to keep scaling distinct from other tools such as strategy, operational efficiency, or even economies of scale. Scaling is intentional work. A principle It’s been an honor to support clients in these versatile roles. Honestly, my affection for learning led me here.
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