In every ecosystem there is a growth factor, but there is also a growth limitation factor that directly impacts how quickly that ecosystem can sponsor growth.
Let’s use a common agricultural ecosystem as an example. There are essential conditions which all organisms require to grow. These are generally known as growth factors.
Simple crops need sunlight, water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide in order to achieve photosynthesis and form tissues. When one or more of the elements needed is limited enough to constrain the growth of the crop, it is known as a growth limiting factor. The rate or magnitude of the growth of any crop therefore is controlled by the growth factor that is available in the lowest quantities. This concept is similar to the maxim “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” The farmer therefore must make tough choices about how to use their available ecosystem for maximum crop yield based on current and forecasted predictions.
Overcoming Limitations
What does this have to do with business growth and acceleration in other industries? In early 2022, our ecosystem requirements are also somewhat limited. You could argue that at the start of the year, we see some severe limitations—not just in supply chains, but in available talent and our ability to produce the needed innovations to make progress on plans. Even traditional IT partners, long known for being able to scale up or scale down quickly, are struggling to staff enough talent to meet customer demand. You might say the traditional ecosystem as we know it is fundamentally a growth limiting factor.
Enter software solutions. As the saying goes, “software is eating the world.” Why? Because new cloud-based software solutions are quickly taking the place of traditional solutions in driving our business growth initiatives. Analytics, AI, ML, and a plethora of technologies all come down to one thing—how do we unleash growth by reversing our growth limiting factors?
Don’t have enough salespeople? There are AI solutions that will look at your funnel, sales performance, success indicators, etc., and help you get more from your existing sellers. Struggling to get content written? There are now AI engines supported by seasoned writers to produce content in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost. The reality is if you can imagine it, software is available or will be available to solve it.
Mutual Success and Innovation
This creates a whole new partnering dynamic, one where your partnerships must be based on mutual success and innovation. Where your partnership must challenge the status quo, always look for new solutions. And be willing to destroy the way of doing business that today may be making you both money, because you have an eye on the future of the partnership.
These partnerships are increasingly based on mutual success metrics, flexible and risk-based payment schemes, and they are designed to be agile from the start. The partnering agreements, statements of work, and service level agreements we formerly used to measure these new partnerships will need to be radically altered or eliminated all together, as this is not a simple directional agreement. These are finessed ecosystems designed for growth for both parties.
Now more than ever before we must ask ourselves, do we have these growth partnerships? If we don’t have them in place, how do we find and design these new partnerships? And of course, where do we start in the journey?
Keep following me here to learn more about this exciting new era of partnerships that will be the sunlight, water, and food to your business in the years ahead.
