If you dream about growing your business to a billion, highly suggest getting your hands on a copy of Blueprint to a Billion by David G. Thomson. The book identifies 7 common essentials exhibited by the most successful companies across all industries and are summarized below:

1. Create and sustain Breakthrough Value proposition:

There are 3 kinds of breakthrough value propositions:

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1. Shapers of a New World: create new market for their products and services, e.g eBay, Microsoft or Amazon

2. Niche Shapers: Products or services that redefine a specific market segment, e.g. Starbucks.

3. Category Killers: Provide better, faster and cheaper value offer by attacking the exisiting competition, e.g. Staples or Home Depot

 

David's research found that over 43% of the top companies were either Niche Shapers of Category Killers.

 

2. Exploit High Growth Market Segment

 

Build a process and culture of staying close to your customers so you understand your customer's unmet needs.

Partner with suppliers to lower your cost of products and services, it can also be a source for product differentiation.

Exponential revenue growth requires a diverse product line that address multiple market segments, achieved organically or through acquisitions.

Examples:

• Autozone provides not only replacement parts but upgrades as well. The company also offers services to install these parts as cars became more complex

• PetsMart offers services such as Grooming Salon and PetsHotel beyond just offerinf pet supplies

• Staples offers all the products and services than an office needs under one roof.

 

3. Marquee Customers Shape the Revenue Powerhouse

Maximizing customer lifecycle revenues is fundamental to achieving exponential revenue growth per customer. Secure deep relationships with a limited number of valued customers who are like the booster stage on a rocket going into orbit, they suercharge revenue growth and give companies credibility and instant status. These customers help companies in 3 ways

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1. They test and deploy the product.

2. They codevelop the value proposition by telling you if your value proposition is good for them, regardless of how good it seems to you

3. They serve as a reference and sell to peers, thereby becoming an extension of the company's salesforce. 

Example: eBay's top customers help shape eBay's new services through a feedback system. They are also a powerful word of mouth sales force to attract new customers

How can your business find these Marquee customers?

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Identify potential marquee customers. They tend to be leaders or first movers in their industry, drive or set industry-leading standards.

Find a Marquee customers that buys your product for the first time. The product does not have to be great, it just has to give the company a toehold.

Begin to develop long-term relationship by uncovering needs that exist but are not readily apparent (ask a lot of questions!)

Provide unique solutions to these unmet needs resulting in a win-win for you and your customer

Capture the mind and heart of the customer by using the power of customer-centric vision to align employees and customer development.

 

4) Leverage Big Brother Alliances for Breaking into New Markets

 

When you can't do it all, partner with a established bigger company. The best alliances are formed when the little brother is quick and capable of adapting to the Big Brothers needs and motivations, it can become the preferred alternative. e.g. Microsoft had IBM, eBay had AOL, Yahoo! had AT&T etc.

 

5) Become the Masters of Exponential Returns

 

"Unlike companies that fail, top companies expect to make a profit. In fact, they demand it early." The book identified 4 key principles to create superior value:

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1. Create attractive gross margins early (60% or more) and remain at that level or more

2. Control expenses to achieve 20%+ EBITDA. Don't overinvest.

3. Become cashflow positive early and remain that way, so that exponential revenue growth creates exponential returns for shareholders.

4. "Achieving above-average gross margins provides a unique opportunity to incrementally self-fund a higher level of investment in sales and marketing as well as product development. This reinforcing cycle accelerates growth".

 

6) The Management Team: Inside-Outside Leadership

 

Execute a strategic leadership pairing in which one leader faces outward toward markets, customers, partners, and the community with the other leader focusing inward to optimize operations. Think CEO and COO, this Inside-Outside leadership pairing is prevalent among the worlds most successful companies.

 

7) The Board: Comprised of Essential Experts

 

Top companies recruited customers, alliance partners, and other top CEO's as board members to provide insight into exponential growth or the other 6 essentials above, where as boards composed of investors and or management tended to be associated with struggling companies.