We’re not supposed to get a foot of snow in October, but that’s what greeted me the other morning – along with no electricity… The transition from summer to winter (aka fall) is supposed to happen a little smoother – some cool crisp days, maybe a frost or two, then a few flurries in November, and frozen ground mid December. Fall foliage covered in snow is not in the plan.

This disorderly move from one season to the next is similar to the growing pains many companies experience. Instead of seamlessly adding new channels or upgrading processes, they often stumble their way to the next level. Since growth is pretty much at the top of everyone’s list, successful companies will eventuality run into these bumpy transitions. This happens whether they are adding outside capital or building sales organically.

So what can you do to try to avoid getting snow on your foliage? Here are a couple ideas.

• First is to realize that it will happen. Companies growing from a few $M to $10M as well as those going past the $50M watermark will run in to this. It’s human nature to put your head down and grind away, assuming these little challenges are just another small hill to surmount.

• The most obvious sign is that you and your people are getting lost in your pile of information, and becoming less organized in your execution. Spreadsheets are no longer giving you the forecasts you need – its time to put in some infrastructure and processes that are designed for this purpose.

• Management styles need to evolve from the collegial, flat, all-for-one approach to a more formal organization. I’m not saying you need an HR department, but the organization needs more structure to function efficiently.

• Last, but certainly not least, your strategy needs to move from a product or product-line focus to a broader corporate viewpoint. A product view will get you to a couple $M, but more pieces are usually needed to build the company to the next niveau.

Growing your company is a somewhat chaotic, but supremely satisfying achievement. But be aware that snow can fall before you expect it. When the warning signs appear, be sure to change the way you are doing things, before the lights go out.

Markets are not static – they evolve, grow, shrink, disappear, and are built. The challenge is to know when this may happen so you can be ready to take advantage of the new sustenance. Here are a few things that you can do to be sure you don’t end up like the squirrels.

• Having a deep understanding of your customers’ situations is the best starting point. After all, they have the problem and the money (usually). For instance, if you are selling 96-well screening thingamajigs and your customers have big backlogs, then there is an opportunity for you (or your competitors…)

• What is everybody else doing? I’m sure the squirrels quickly surmised that all their brethren were fighting them for the 3 acorns that fell on their acre. If your competitors are fiercely throwing all kinds of effort (and VP’s) at even small business opportunities, then something is afoul in your market.

• The good news is that markets do not tend to vaporize; the problems that were being addressed often just shift to new solutions. Similarly the squirrels are now all rushing to get sugar maple seeds stashed away. Capillary sequencing, HPLC, and shrink-wrapped software are in the process of being supplanted by NGS, UHPLC, and SAS. (next-generation sequencing, ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography, and software as a service, in case you were curious). People still need to buy stuff, just not the old stuff.

• The easiest way to get a sense of market reorganization is to look at some external factors. If the squirrels had realized that last year’s super-abundance would be followed by a lean year, they could have been better prepared (though this, of course, is beyond their walnut-sized brains). Trade show attendance, funding agencies’ programs, M&A activity, and capital raising are all good indicators of where the action is… and isn’t.

So when your dependable sources of nutrition are disappearing, be sure you know where to find your next pile of revenue. Like the trusty annual crop of acorns, things will change and you will need to adjust your diet.

For me, a homegrown tomato is the pinnacle of summer – supremely tasty, available any time, and the fruits of my efforts. I bet you wish you thought the same way about your latest products – loved by customers, demanded constantly, and the result of your hard work. Maybe you have this perfect situation or … maybe not.

If we look at tomato growing, we can learn a bit about bringing tasty products to the market.

Earth – Staring with deep, rich earth is clearly the best approach. Adding some fertilizer is also helpful. Basing your new products on a sizeable market with pressing needs is a key foundation. Without this you will have poor yields

Water – Keeping the soil moist definitely hastens the march towards perfect red globes. As you develop your product, it is important to continuously add new information from the marketplace regarding the changes in customers’ situations.

Prune – Occasionally errant shoots need to be hacked back. They would only take energy away from the plant and slow the growth of the fruit (I know – but it’s still a vegetable in my mind.) Activities and efforts that are not directly aimed at the goal should be stopped. Yes it’s great to be able to satisfy “all” the customers, but it’s never possible. Be selective and ruthless about wasted efforts.

Squash the bugs – The most destructive thing I have ever seen is the tomato hornworm. Undeterred they can reduce a 6 foot plant into scrawny stems in a few days. Similarly you need to fight the growing threats – new competitive products, changes in spending habits, aggressive price wars.

Weather - Sometimes bad things happen to good plants. Two years ago, late blight (phytophthora infestans for inquiring minds) wiped out all tomatoes within a hundred miles. The debt “crisis,” industry consolidation, and decreased funding are all hard to battle. All you can do is trim your goals and re-evaluate what you expect to accomplish – not easy, but doable.

So if the weather has been sunny, you watered your plants and kept the pests contained, you are now enjoying the bounty of summer. With focused efforts and a little luck from the environment, you too can be enjoying the fruits of your labor – tasty products that customers can’t get enough of.

ps. that tomato in the corner was indeed very tasty…

As we were taxiing down the runway at Denver airport recently, the pilot gently glided the plane over to the side and stopped. A collective sigh was heard as we all anticipated the usual explanations for the delay. The pilot came on to tell us that a series of storms in the Midwest was preventing us from flying directly to Boston, and we have been re-routed to a northern route over Minnesota. Our agenda had been altered from taking the fastest trip to Boston (happy customers, less fuel) to avoiding the nasty storms that would rattle the passengers and shake the plane.

Similarly many companies at the recent conference I attended came in with agendas set on growth and prosperity, only to find storm clouds upsetting their plans. New products from the competition, unexpected customer reactions to their offerings, or ground-breaking developments have all caused companies to reset their agendas.

If we look at agendas, which hopefully you all have, they usually have 2 or 3 main items and fall into a few simple buckets.

• Growth – innovation, M&A
• Costs – do more with less
• Capital – finding $$ to fuel growth
• Risks – gotcha’s and surprises
• People – the right people to move the agenda

That’s about it. Pick your most critical couple areas of focus and get the company lined up behind them. Sounds simple enough, and if asked you can usually say – we are focused on “getting our costs of goods in line,” or “developing our market for IVD’s”

Agendas really have 2 parts to them – first is picking the right one, and the second is knowing when it needs to change. Picking the right one flows from your overarching strategy, and assuming you have a good plan, your agenda should be clear. However, when some storms appear in your path, you need to asses whether your agenda needs to change. Here are few indicators that your direction needs adjustment

• Timelines are being bent beyond reason
• Many of your assumptions are proving inaccurate
• Your people are losing confidence in their ability to meet the goals
• Your sales or costs are trending in the wrong directions

None of these are fatal flaws unless they are ignored. People and companies are extremely malleable, and with good leadership can be steered onto the right route. So when you detect storm clouds on the horizon, be sure to take stock of your agenda. If you can weather the storm, then proceed ahead; but if you expect some unhealthy buffeting, then reset your agenda. Though this should not be a knee-jerk to the challenges you face, it is important to realize when you need to take the longer, yet smoother route to your destination.

Stepping into the flight chamber, I was astonished at the unexpectedly strange sensations. As I attempted my first indoor skydive, my mind was trying to reconcile the noise, the wind, the pressure on my limbs, and the hand signals from my instructor. A similar cacophony of signals often occurs when you are bringing new products into the marketplace – noise, forces, opinions, and speed are all at play trying to upset your planned trajectory.

Processing all of this at once is critical to entering the market and actually getting the results you want (usually $$$.) Granted you aren’t trying to float in a 100 mph wind, but things do move quicker than you would like.

• Noise – Nothing is more disruptive to a good product launch than too much noise. This can be due to a poorly-focused effort or because lots of other things are occurring around you in the market. Having a good process, a well-vetted strategy, and committed people will help you rise above the fray.

• Odd forces – Like the wind trying to deflect my arms behind my head, there will be responses from the customers and competitors. Being prepared for the possible reactions will definitely help you weather these forces. Run a few scenarios to help you plan for the buffeting.

• Heeding the signals – Trying to comprehend signals and act on them in this environment is tricky. When you first enter the market, signals will come flying back at you. Some people like your product, some hate it, some don’t care. Sales people sell version X but not version Y. Paying attention to this early feedback is critical. Though your plan was perfect, you often need to heed the market signals and make adjustments to be really successful

• Speed – Moving quickly can give you a big advantage over your competitors. Once you see that you need to make some adjustments, doing this quickly and effectively across your organization and market is important. Slowly adapting to the feedback has killed many good products; so keep your foot on the gas. As the Valeant CEO, Michael Pearson, recently said, “Time is the enemy, in my mind. Speed has proven to be a real competitive advantage if you look at our history.”

So when you are getting ready to parachute your products into the marketplace, take a few lessons from the skydivers. There will be new, unexpected forces at work. Paying attention to them will lead to a successful and controlled dive into your new flow of revenue. Not paying attention can lead to a very unpleasant landing.

ps. in case you’re wondering, that is indeed yours truly in his first flight.

It amazes me that the windmills over in Princeton have never stopped turning. Every time I gaze across the Wachusett Reservoir to the ridge in Princeton, the big white blades are lazily spinning. Maybe they do stop once in a while, but I’ve never seen it. Many companies would love this type of business – at all hours of the day the cash keeps rolling in.

This is a conundrum for companies, large and small, that are developing new products. How do you maximize the revenue that can be obtained from the innovative products coming out from behind the curtain? Many look to the windmill model where they first sell a piece of equipment then watch as the revenue rolls in from the consumption of the bits and pieces needed to keep it operating. This works great if the measurements or tests are all the same, the thousands of samples are the same type, and the operator does not need 3 PhD’s.

However, many companies making equipment are relying on the customers to be the experts and develop their own custom methods. This case is more like the windmill manufacturers that sell 3 million dollar windmills to towns like Princeton. A long sales cycle, a big sale, then start a new sales cycle again – kinda lumpy.

To smooth this out, others look to leveraging their technologies to offer a service to their customers. Many companies consider this as an easy add-on to their current businesses. Just look at how many instrument vendors now have service arms (Bruker, Caliper, Beckman, Millipore to name a few)

Another approach to harvesting your innovations is to collaborate to create valuable biological discoveries. This is a riskier approach with longer payback, but has worked for some folks with unique platforms such as BG Medicine and Rules Based Medicine.

A final pathway is to take your research technology and move it downstream to a production environment or a diagnostic facility. Both have much more stringent requirements than the RUO (research use only) world. But once inserted into a process or accepted as a routine test, the revenue flows quite nicely.

So when you are looking to get the most from your innovations, be sure to look beyond just selling a cool new box. Like the windmills in Princeton, consider the various ways to bring your value to the market, and you too may be able to generate energy ($$) day and night.

I’ve seen so many snowstorms this year that I have lost count. However, the one the other day was the most impressive, not for the drifts or the depth or the wind, but for how it covered every surface with white. The entire landscape was blanketed, much like the methods some companies use to market their products – let no potential customer go untouched by their messages.

This common approach is taken by companies large and small, and usually with similar results. Sure, some sales will result, but efforts to get the customers will be large, and it won’t be clear what part of your offering is the most valuable to them.  You will end up following some opportunities that look exciting but yield few sales.

Though an inefficient process, carpet bombing the marketplace may have some use for very early technology. Sometimes it’s not clear where the best opportunities lie, so you need to explore a variety of applications and markets. This is fine, but must be undertaken as part of a larger strategy – that means exploring specific segments for a limited time. Then decide on where to focus your valuable time, money and efforts.

Crossing this divide between exploration and focus is a tricky one and often leaves a hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach. Here are a few ideas that can help you sleep a little better when you are attempting the move away from the sticky snow approach.

• Spend time to really understand the segments. What are the groups of customers that are attracted to your product? What do they have in common? How do they differ?

• Be sure to look around the corner and not just at the last couple quarters. Having a reasonable idea of what your customers will be needing (and how many of them) is the basis for a believable forecast.

• Understand which message in your blanket of snow is sticking. What gets the customers excited enough to shift from “that’s interesting” to “I need that”

• Lastly and most difficult is sometimes saying no to revenue. Though customer x is very interested in the PCR product you are selling for diagnostics, he wants to look at primordial soup — so you need to walk away. You will need to support this approach across the organization so no one gets crucified for missing a sale.

This is not an easy situation, but a critical one if products are to become truly successful beyond the few dozen enthusiasts who buy anything that is new. Be conscious of the point when focus is needed to really grow the business. Tempting as it is to chase everyone who likes your product, like the wet snow on the trees, soon the excitement will melt away. Before this happens, you need to make the choice on where your future lies.