Hypergrowth businesses, by their very nature, are fast growing and thriving – meaning that something is clearly working. Of course there is always the temptation to tweak and improve areas of any business, as there should be, but when something is growing, it’s important to improve the right areas of the business so to not risk messing with a good thing.
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According to McKinsey: “Companies must be open to radical reinvention to find new, significant and sustainable sources of revenue.” Many hypergrowth organisations will assume that increasing the workforce is the best option to match growing demand and become more efficient, but before you begin a labour-intensive and expensive drive in recruitment, you should consider whether transforming your existing operating model may be the answer. A business’s operating model should enable them to tackle current challenges and create a path to expand further, offering new services or tapping into new demographics. It should also help you to meet the expectations of your existing customer base. Of course, resetting your operating model requires some deep consideration and will need to be carried out with limited disruption to your growing business. We’ve partnered with businesses from many different sectors to support them in reviewing and developing their operating model, and have picked up some pearls of wisdom along the way.
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Here are 5 things that hypergrowth businesses must consider before they develop their operating model:

1) Think beyond the existing problems you are facing
Firefighting is a vicious circle and a mindset that is hard to breakaway from. It is very easy to focus on the immediate problems you are facing. For example, your customer care team may be under pressure from customer demand. To remedy this, you may want to consider tactical activity, such as a rapid outsource procurement. However, it is key to not confuse day to day problems with problems caused by your operating model.

2) Know what you want
What is the nirvana state you aspire as a business? When designing a new operating model, you need to take a step away from current performance and think of your optimum business strategy. To truly back your vision, you need to be in tune with what your data is telling you. Ask yourself, what does the measure of success look like? Is the business measuring itself against the right metrics? You should leave no corner of your business unexplored in order to realise your vision. Be mindful that the output may not be manageable on day 1, there will likely be gaps in expertise and knowledge, or investment required to build new functionality.

3) Connect the key business areas and functions
Bring the key business functions together and agree how they can collaborate and what information needs to flow between functions, you can cure existing problems and build a better business. More importantly, it allows the team to understand their role in bringing the operating model to life, rather than working in siloes that may have formed with growth. You create a path to move forward but also a reset on incorrect behaviours.

4) Use a digital twin 
A digital twin shows what’s next by using a dynamic virtual representation of a customer developed from digital and physical interactions used to predict behavior. For the hypergrowth environment in particular, a digital twin allows you to understand the impact changes will have across the business, without the cost and pain of ‘lessons learnt’. Transformations are costly and time consuming; therefore, it will provide reassurance to the business to visualise and understand the opportunity in front of them. By building a digital twin in the right way, with the right tools, you theorise and understand the impact of replacing systems, automating processes and understanding salary impact on enhanced skillsets.
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5) Take your entire business on the journey
You and your employees are about to embark on a new path. User-led change is far more effective than forcing an operating model onto people that may not answer the problems they are facing today. By sharing the vision of the business and what needs to be done to realise this, you are creating an open and transparent culture. This will increase engagement and aid your desires in bringing the operating model to life.

Getting your operating model right in the noise of a rapidly growing business can be a challenging but critical decision. Getting this decision wrong can lead to tie and cost implications that will have a fundamental impact on your business success.
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Get in touch
We’ve got you covered. With decades of experience helping businesses with their operating model, we can support you on your transformation journey. Whether that’s working with you to facilitate and build a strategy and vision for the business with our Diagnostic service; or assessing your operations with our Operating Model proposition. If you would like to find out how we can support your growth and success, please get in touch.
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Jason Pillay 
Senior Consultant
jason.pillay@davies-group.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-pillay/

Find out how outsourcing can support your hypergrowth trajectory here