10 lessons about scaling your business

Last year, Southeast Michigan Startup began telling the story of high growth companies in Metro Detroit, profiling people across the region who are shaking up their industries. We’ve learned some important lessons from entrepreneurs who’ve overcome challenges, stuck to their gut, took incredible risks to innovate, and scaled to reach success.
 
We’ve enjoyed sharing some of those ideas in person through a series of casual happy hours we call #HighGrowthHappyHour. We’ve learned that it’s possible to scale, sell, and create something great right here in our region. Here are our 10 favorite lessons so far. 

1. Just because it’s never been done before, doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Jack Aronson of Garden Fresh Salsa launched his salsa company after playing around with fresh salsa recipes in his restaurant kitchen. When the president of Hiller's Market heard about his recipe and liked it, Jack felt encouraged to go big.

As Garden Fresh grew they focused on creating the greatest tasting product using high quality ingredients and a unique amount of fresh cilantro. Many people in the industry told Jack he would never scale a fresh salsa company nationally; it was too difficult to preserve the product. He took a big financial risk and invested in HPP technology, a food preservation technique that helped him reach national distribution.

“We survived because our products were better,” he said. “The product won.”

2. Protect your brand value to the end.

Major brands approached Jack several times about selling his company. But it wasn’t until the RIGHT deal came along that was not only a bigger and better offer, protected the brand he’d built and the team he’d grown, and the community he’d rooted himself in, that he agreed to sell.

3. Success is all about relationships.

Carla Walker-Miller of Walker-Miller Energy filled the room at Cafe con Leche with sass and wisdom, sharing her frank advice for starting up and scaling in Detroit. Carla had to learn to meld her personal culture and business culture in order to succeed at building her own company.

When starting up, she saved up money to make it to big conferences like the Mackinac Policy Conference and took every opportunity to meet anyone in the energy industry. Relationships were key to helping her land some of her first big deals, and help to keep her at the decision table as she scales. 4. Make your hiring decisions based on values.

Another big takeaway from Carla’s talk was to remember to focus on the company’s values when making a hiring decision. Carla encourages her employees to succeed, fostering a collaborative culture where everyone is in it together to win. She looks to hire people who are diverse, collaborative, and willing to work together to get the job done.

5. Build and maintain a strong culture as you scale.

So what happens when you’ve perfected the product, built the relationships, and are now growing fast? That sort of scaling can bring about all sorts of team problems. A strong culture will be needed to keep everyone heading in the same direction. Nathan Hughes of Detroit Labs says they hire slow and fire fast, but it takes more than that to scale a successful company culture.

“Look for storytellers. They help you maintain purpose and culture,” he told a room full of entrepreneurs Detroit Labs.

Nathan asks employees why they want to join their mission, and works to clearly define and always communicate their purpose to all potential hires. As the company scales, individual roles may change, but a culture built on clear communication and driven by purpose will encourage growth all around.