𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

A business infrastructure plan creates a road map that is used to start and run a company. This road map consists of a three part plan: daily operations, processes, and employees. Each component of the business infrastructure should be created and analyzed independently of the others. The plan should act as a stand-alone resource for the way the business is to grow and progress well into the future.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎

1. Select a name for the business. Obtain a copyright for the business name if needed.

2. Decide how your business will be formed. Choose from a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), corporation, S corporation or non-profit. The requirements and business documents necessary to start a business vary from state to state.

3. Complete incorporation forms and submit forms and fees to the state where the business will be located. The paperwork and fees required to form the business vary by state, depending on how your business is formed and titled.

4. Apply for a tax identification number or employee identification number with the Internal Revenue Service.

5. Apply for a Dunn & Bradstreet number, if your company will require funding or a line of credit through a financial institution.

6. Register with your state's department of taxation, and procure a sales tax license if you will be selling retail goods.

𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝙱𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚗

1. Research possible competitors in your area. Obtain an overview of the market and demographics in comparison to your business model, as well as a comparison of products and pricing. To get this information, use tools such as your local library, the Internet, and by interviewing like-minded business owners.

2. Write a mission statement, outlining business goals and growth expectations. Outline what your new business will do, what you might need to start a new enterprise, and what your business will bring to the community.

3. Define the type of operating environment the business will need during the initial growth phase. Determine whether you will lease office space, purchase existing real estate, or begin construction on a new building.

𝙱𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎

1. Create a budget for your business. The budget should include start-up costs, salaries, operating costs and marketing costs. Detail the capital needed to survive the first year, progressing through the next five years from startup.

2. Define what financial assistance is needed to start the enterprise, as well as where the financing will come from.

3. Calculate labor costs by determining salaries or hourly rates for each position. Decide whether the worker in the position needs to be a full-time or part-time employee, a temporary hire, or a contractor.

𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝

1. Create an organizational chart for the business, detailing the positions needed to start the business, ranging from CEO and management to general staff and hourly employees.

2. Create a job description for each position. Outline specific duties, as well as who each position may report to. Rank each position based upon need and budget.

3. Create a projected growth list. Include future employees needed and materials or tools you might need as the company expands. Prioritize these items based upon need and budget.

**The Importance of Finance to the Startup - https://synfiny.com/importance-finance-startup/

If this universe have the existence of better intelligent life other than humans then we could have been found by them. Or, we are the ones, towards the betterment of our existence. Question is, how and what to follow/do for the betterment or advancement?

If we consider our intelligence to develop generations with more psychologically, socially and spiritually active beings, then the definition of betterment can be considered valid. Imagination exists in time to build the future and hope. The only bad thing within good is that how you define bad. Consider good without limits, little bad is good.

Somehow, science has achieved its path towards perfection, now if 'Man' is made, the instinct of intelligence should be diverted towards multi-planetary or in search of stones, and no harm for the land and lives. Your betterment, like GDP, where the currency is the happiness. And happiness comes from a specific perception. #perception #betterment #future #hope

16 ideas to lead a healthier homegrown company culture Taking a creative approach to maintaining personable business relationships is just as important.

1. RECOGNIZE AND REWARD ACTIONABLE VALUES.
2. SHARE YOUR OUTSIDE INTERESTS AT WORK. 3. DESIGN KPIS THAT CONVEY SENIOR LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS.
4. PAIR UNLIKELY TEAMS TOGETHER FOR GROUP COLLABORATIONS.
5. GIVE EMPLOYEES AUTHORITY TO MAKE IMPACTFUL DECISIONS.
6. ENCOURAGE NEW IDEAS TO PLAN GROUP OUTINGS.
7. ENABLE EMPLOYEES TO INSTILL THE CHANGE THEY WANT TO SEE.
8. MODEL YOUR BEHAVIOR AND VALUES WITH THE COMPANY.
9. EMPOWER INDIVIDUALIZED BRILLIANCE.
10. LOWER THE BARRIERS BETWEEN EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP AND DIRECT REPORTS.
11. BUILD EACH OTHER UP.
12. TIE CULTURE-BUILDING INTO DEI EFFORTS.
13. PROMOTE THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET.
14. BEGIN WITH THE END AND WORK BACKWARDS.
15. HOLD EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE.
16. START A COMMITTEE.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90751869/16-ideas-to-lead-a-healthier-homegrown-company-culture #companyculture #entrepreneurship #HealthyHabits #community

How to Find and Groom Your Successor

One of the responsibilities that can be difficult, even for great CEOs, is to make the time to consider their successor plan. While it's human nature not to think too far into the future, you owe it to your organization to groom prime talent to replace you, regardless of how invincible you still feel. Think of it as a contingency plan.

Great organizations build successor plans deep into their organization as well. The idea is that if a lower-level manager wants a promotion, they'd better have someone ready to take over for them.

But, for this article, let's focus on what it means to put a successor plan in place for the top job: the CEO.

𝟭. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

In every organization, you have high-potential A-caliber players who are eminently promotable. These are people who check many boxes when it comes to attributes like intellectual capability, expertise, and ambition. These are the kinds of people you want to consider taking part in your successor plan. Nothing against solid B-players, but you're looking for your superstars when it comes to identifying the next potential CEO.

As you do your assessments, don't overlook how important it is that someone truly has the ambition to grab the top job someday. For instance, I remember early in my career, when I thought all my colleagues wanted to run the business, as I did eventually. But that wasn't true. Most people want to do their job and get a raise or promotion occasionally. They don't want the stress or responsibility of running the business. Many people might say they want the top job, but the percentage of people ready to do hard work and make sacrifices to get there is relatively small.

𝟮. 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁

How you structure the talent in your organization is an essential aspect of building your successor plan. Ideally, it would be best to have your high-potential leaders reporting directly to the CEO--which serves as a development platform for them. As CEO, you might have eight VPs reporting to you, for instance. That means you have eight slots available for future leadership candidates.

The catch is that a CEO can find themselves with direct reports who are fully capable lieutenants but lack one or more of the qualities that would make them a CEO successor candidate. While they might add value to the organization in their role, they also become blockers to the successor candidates beneath them.

This might force you to change your organizational structure, ranging from adding a new position that reports to the CEO or even replacing a B-player with an A-player on your successor list.

𝟯. 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔-𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀

I've written before about how to develop A-players. It becomes an integral part of the CEO's job to put potential successors in place and give them the kinds of opportunities they need to grow the skills they'll need if they become CEO. Here are a few strategies to consider putting in place:

Education. Many times, the limitation of an A-player is that they're strong in one area of the business--like finance or engineering--but lack exposure to other functional areas like operations. Look for ways to give your potential successors opportunities to gain a more holistic understanding and exposure to running the overall business. Cross-functional teams. Look for opportunities for your high-potential players to lead cross-functional teams involved with challenging projects, like implementing an ERP system or integrating a new acquisition, that present opportunities to learn about aspects of the business they have yet to be exposed to. Peer groups. Another excellent growth opportunity for future CEO candidates is to join a peer group specifically focused on successor development. These groups will typically involve CEOs and their successors, which creates excellent learning opportunities for your successor to learn from other CEOs as they seek to develop well-rounded and robust leadership skills. (Full disclosure: We run peer groups focused on this topic at the Inc. CEO Project.)

𝟰. 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗶𝘁

At some point in your successor development plan journey, you need to make perhaps your most difficult decision: to step down. Otherwise, you risk becoming the blocker yourself to the high-potential leaders you have developed. But even then, there is a risk to the organization when you choose the person to succeed you. We need only to look at one of the most high-profile successor plans of all time, when Jack Welch stepped aside at GE, to see what might unfold. It was long known that Welch had three candidates on his successor list. And when he finally decided to name his replacement, the other two immediately left the company to take CEO jobs elsewhere.

As you go about constructing your successor plans, consider both the upside that comes with developing future leaders as well as the potential costs if you find long-term growth opportunities for all your A-players.


https://www.inc.com/jim-schleckser/how-to-find-groom-your-successor.html #FutureLeaders #Talent

𝚂𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖


In the B2B space especially, almost every provider is switching to a software as a service (SaaS) model, making competition tough and permanent. Kier Humphreys, experience director at Hallam, argues that SaaS companies need to go back to basics to stand out: develop a clear narrative of differentiation.

Software as a Service (Saas) needs to deliver two things: software and service. It’s easy to think of this as a capital-light way to access tooling, but as every provider moves to a SaaS model, the fight for share-of-wallet has moved from an annual beauty parade to an always-on-consideration.

Procurement decisions have added a dialled-up layer of emotion with service now front and center. If there’s one thing that can positively impact our emotions, it’s effective brand execution (something that 82% of B2B marketers agree they need to be more focused on).

- 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲

Brand investment isn’t new or magical: Tesco’s Finest range isn’t objectively better than its standard in-house range, but you sure feel fancy buying and consuming it. The level of experience vastly increases the perception of value and quality.

You aren’t the only SaaS offering in your industry. Chances are, your pricing and feature set are comparable to the competition’s. What separates you is the narrative you build around your brand and your ability to demonstrate the features you offer and the life-changing productivity, efficiency and life hacks your model delivers.

What can you do to make sure your SaaS marketing stands out? Simple: truly impactful experiences, from the first second someone reaches your platform. Ensure first impressions stand the test of pricing, onboarding and contracts. Stand apart with cohesive and distinctive brand development and creative execution.

The total experience is what drives churn reduction, LTV and growth. It’s B2B, but you’re still dealing with humans. Brand doesn’t stop with the first impression; it’s perception, which exists in each micro-interaction from day one onward.

- 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿

It’s easy to get caught in an echo chamber when thinking about brand. You can waste hours considering the exact language for a brand vision document, but copy for a website will be written in minutes. Worse still, hours can be spent on how many times the phrase ‘digital transformation’ can be peppered throughout your homepage copy.

Brand has become a way to make your service more complex through language, rather than a perception built on promise and delivery. While it’s good that 50% of marketing budgets are allocated to branding in the most mature B2B brands, that often still focuses on the superficial.

Peep Laja (a hero in the conversion rate optimization space and founder of the message testing platform Wynter) recently posted on LinkedIn: “Your company home page is not where you should tell your narrative.” This should be printed out and stuck to the wall of every brand.

When we talk about dialling up your brand, it doesn‘t mean beating people around the head with the journey your founder took from humble goat farmer to hustling rockstar in the SaaS space. These narratives very quickly sound the same. Buyers (humans) don‘t operate in a vacuum. They don‘t view their interaction with you as epics to rival Lawrence of Arabia, ending up on your team page and marvelling at the collective genius that makes transformation simple through technology.

- 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲

Every SaaS brand exists in a competitive marketplace, and every brand wants to stand out. It‘s easier to sell the idea of standing out by looking and sounding different. But what if you stand out by setting up a market-orientated solution and ensuring every touchpoint meets or exceeds buyers’ expectations?

Successful brands do the thing they said they would. If you aren‘t doing that, that beautiful font and pattern are as useful as Elon Musk‘s humility coach.

Where should this brand reset begin? Start small. Talk to your prospects. Have new employees review the competitive landscape. See how those most important to you perceive the brand you‘ve created. Talk to new and long-term customers and see if there’s any cohesion between initial promise and the reality of existing within your ecosystem. Improve both, and never stop.

Investing in your brand is more than just improving the look of your site and saturating the colors in your palette to deliver distinction. It‘s about providing a reality as close as possible to the perception you work so hard to project at the beginning of the association. Think of it as a new relationship: if the first date is you at your best, and every date after that slowly reveals the gremlin inside of you... you get the picture.

Constantly focus on your brand, and fixate on ensuring every touchpoint a customer or prospect reaches is as good as, if not better than, the first. Start with research; objectively audit your brand experience and focus on the areas causing customers and prospects the most pain. That, versus a new brand execution built on nothing but a desire for change, is the way to achieve sustainable growth. #SaaS #service #software #brand #competition #differentiation #sustainablegrowth

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗚𝗠𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗠&𝗔𝘀: 𝟭𝟬 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗢𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲

Even the largest businesses have their roots in relatively humble beginnings. Amazon started off as an online bookstore, Tesco began life as a market stall, and KFC initially sold fried chicken from a single service station café in Kentucky.

Whatever their origins and no matter their scale, companies are required to deal with a number of events and obligations as they carve out a corporate path: from attracting the requisite funding, to dealing with the advances of a predatory rival.

Here are 10 corporate signposts each of which can have an impact on the portfolios of stocks and shares investors.

𝟭 – 𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴

An initial public offering (IPO) is one way a company can ‘go public’ for the first time. This is when a company issues shares to the public in its bid to join the stock market.

A company carrying out an IPOs is also referred to as ‘floating’ on the stock market. UK flotations in the 1980s included the likes of BT, British Gas and British Airways.

From a company’s perspective, an IPO offers a way to raise money by selling shares in its business to willing investors. The number of shares issued, plus the price for which they sell, determines a company’s market capitalisation or ‘market cap’.

When undertaking an IPO, a company appoints advisers, most notably, an investment bank, which underwrites the deal. In other words, it offers guarantees about the number of shares being sold, taking up the slack if any remain unsold at the time of flotation.

Investment banks also look for would-be investors, set the offer price of the shares, and oversee the share sale.

𝟮 – 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿

Also known as a ‘reverse merger’ or a ‘reverse IPO’, a reverse takeover allows a private company to be listed on the market without having to organise and pay for an IPO.

Reverse takeovers occur when a private firm takes over a public firm where the latter is often a ‘shell’ corporation, in other words, an inactive entity or one with few assets. The private company ends up becoming publicly listed through the shell corporation.

3 – Company report & accounts
Company report & accounts are a summary of a business’s financial activity over a 12-month period. In the UK, they are prepared for Companies House and HM Revenue & Customs every year and consist of items such as the ‘balance sheet’, ‘profit and loss statement’ and ‘cash flow statement’.

Each element provides an insight to shareholders and investors about how an organisation is performing. The larger the business, characterised by sub-companies, multiple divisions and various brands, the more complicated a company’s report and accounts will be.

· Balance sheet: a snapshot of a business’s assets, liabilities and shareholder equity at a specific point in time

· Profit and loss statement: different to the above because it records performance over a period of time. Provides information on a company’s revenues and expenses throughout its financial year

· Cash flow statement: explains cash movements in and out of a business over the course of its financial year

· Directors’ report: a summary of a company’s trading activities plus a discussion about future prospects.

Company accounts, prepared by auditors, must adhere to generally accepted accounting practices.

𝟰 – 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

An annual general meeting (AGM), is a yearly gathering of a company’s shareholders and its board of directors. This tends to be the only time that the directors and shareholders meet and is a chance for the directors to present the company’s annual report (see above).

During an AGM, a company’s performance is analysed and its strategy discussed. Shareholders can ask questions of the board, vote on company decisions and fill in any vacant positions on the board.

𝟱 – 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 & 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) turn two companies into a single entity. Reasons for an M&A include teaming up with a rival, acquiring new assets, streamlining costs and encouraging innovation.

Whether the transaction is deemed a ‘merger’ or an ‘acquisition’ depends on factors including the deal structure, the size of the companies concerned and the markets that are affected.

M&As are categorised by type:
-- horizontal (for example, the merger of two competitors)
-- vertical (where two different sorts of business combine to make stronger individual entity) and
-- conglomerate (two unrelated companies combine but remain separate).

M&As are also categorised by form:
-- statutory
-- subsidiary
-- consolidation.

Mergers involve the combination of two equal companies resulting in a new entity under one name. Acquisitions tend to involve a smaller company being bought up by a larger one.

Depending on how an acquisition is structured, the smaller company might maintain its existing name and status or be absorbed into the acquiring company.

Mergers are voted on by boards of both companies and often require shareholder approval. Acquisitions may take place through more aggressive methods carried out by the acquiring company. Some acquisitions are described as ‘hostile takeovers’, where the acquisition of one company by another has taken place against the wishes of the former.

Depending on how it is viewed, an M&A can have a profound effect on a company’s share price. Shares in both companies may rise or fall depending on public opinion of the deal.

The conduct of takeovers and mergers of UK public companies is regulated by the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, usually shortened to the ‘City Code’.

𝟲 – 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁/𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻

A management buyout (MBO) involves a management combining resources to acquire all or part of the company. The idea is the management team takes full control and ownership of the business with a view to using their expertise to grow the organisation.

In considering an MBO, a number of considerations need to be applied, such as the desire and credibility of the management team putting in the bid, the availability of funding and whether all parties can agree upon the funding mix.

The hallmarks of a business that would facilitate a successful MBO are:

-- company with a track record of profitability
-- good prospects
-- strong and committed management team with a mix of skills
-- vendor willing to consider sale to management
-- deal structure that can be funded and supported by future cash flows


Management buyins, or MBIs, are similar to MBOs but involve a management team from outside a company coming in to take control and ownership of an organisation. MBIs usually require external funding from banks or private equity investors.

𝟳 – 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀

A rights issue is a way for a quoted company to raise money. Instead of taking on debt, a business asks its existing shareholders to put their hands in their pockets to provide extra cash.

As part of a rights issue, a company gives its existing shareholders the right to subscribe to additional shares. Shareholders are not obliged to participate in a rights issue.

A 1-for-5 rights issue means an existing shareholder can buy one extra share for every five that are held. Every shareholder is offered the same deal, no matter how many shares they hold overall.

𝟴 – 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁

A stock split takes place when a company issues existing investors with additional shares for each stock that they already own. Each investor’s existing shareholding is ‘split’ into a larger number of shares, even though their overall holding in the company remains the same as before the split.

Companies split their shares to make each share in the business cheaper. In theory, this encourages more investment as the shares become more affordable.

A company might decide it needs to act because its share price has become too high either making it overbought (trading at a price above its intrinsic value), or expensive compared with other companies in the same industrial sector.

The most popular split ratio is 2-for-1 or 3-for-1. In these examples, a shareholder who owned one company share before the split, would end up with either two or three afterwards, respectively.

Earlier this month, the corporate giant Amazon executed a 20-for-1 stock split.

𝟵 – 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲

There are several reasons why listed companies are taken private.

Businesses often find it easier to restructure away from the rigours of being stock market-listed. Tough decisions on strategy, job cuts or governance do not have to be put to shareholders, nor is a private company required to report results every quarter.

Valuing private companies is much harder because there’s often a lack of information with regards to sales, profits and how a business’s products and services are performing.

When a business is taken private, the most obvious benefit to shareholders is that prospective buyers usually offer a price that’s above the company’s existing share price. According to the online broker AJ Bell, the average premium paid in both 2020 and 2021 for UK stocks was 37%, representing a healthy return for existing shareholders.

Once a company is taken private, it’s removed from the buying radar of retail investors – the likes of you and me. However, it’s not uncommon for a struggling company to be taken private, its problems fixed (with an injection of capital, for example) and then sold back into public ownership.

A ‘take private’ transaction might involve either one, or more, private equity firms acquiring the stock of a publicly traded corporation. Private equity is an alternative means of finance – distinct from taking out a loan, issuing stock or selling bonds – for a business that’s looking to raise capital.

Earlier this year, the Daily Mail’s owner, Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) exited the London market ending a 90-year history as a public company. DMGT was officially delisted from the London Stock Exchange following a successful privatisation by the Rothermere family.

𝟭𝟬 – 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀

A Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) is a way of raising finance for a specific purpose, such as the acquisition of a third-party company.

SPACs are cash shells with no commercial operations or investments. They raise money from investors and list on a stock exchange before using those funds to buy a private business to take it public.

In the US in particular, SPACs – backed by movie stars, sports celebrities and politicians – have soared in popularity in recent years, with 248 companies going public in 2020 before being joined by another 630 in 2021.

Last year, after bowing to a clamour of pleas from entrepreneurs and investors keen to jump on the global SPACs bandwagon, the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial regulator, changed its rules to facilitate SPAC listings on the London stock market.

Despite several changes to the listing rules, UK regulations are regarded as more stringent compared with the US and other markets around the world. A concern remains about whether the existing framework is one that’s sufficiently flexible enough to allow SPACs to thrive domestically.

In the UK, a SPAC must raise at least £100 million in gross cash from public shareholders at the date of listing. ‘Public shareholders’ excludes directors, founders or anyone promoting the SPAC.

𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆

𝘈𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 “𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦” (𝘪.𝘦., 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 “𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦” (𝘪.𝘦., 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴) 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 10% 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 “𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵” 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺.

Strategy execution is commonly fraught with failure. Having worked with hundreds of organizations, we’ve observed one consistent misstep when leaders attempt to translate strategy into results: the failure to align strategy with the organization’s design.

Research suggests that only 10% of organizations are successful at aligning their strategy with their organization design. Some of the problem is a gross misunderstanding of what the word “alignment” actually means in this context. Most leaders naively assume that it means rigid processes that cascade goals from top to bottom, launching intense communication campaigns that promote top priorities, and shaping budgets to support those priorities. For example, one large manufacturing company we’ve observed invests countless hours every January having employees input goals that correspond to their boss’s goals into their HR system. But employees noted, “It’s all cosmetic. We write goals we have no idea if we can achieve, but as long as they appear linked to our boss’s goals, they get approved.”

The problem is that such processes leave alignment to individuals and ignore the systemic organizational factors needed to make strategy work.

An organization is nothing more than a living embodiment of a strategy. That means its “organizational hardware” (i.e., structures, processes, technologies, and governance) and its “organizational software” (i.e., values, norms, culture, leadership, and employee skills and aspirations) must be designed exclusively in the service of a specific strategy.

We recently saw this misstep play out with one of our clients — let’s call him Ivan — a division president of a technology company. Ivan was presenting his division strategy to the CEO, which included a plan to redesign his organization to align with their new strategy. The CEO curtly asked, “Why do you need to reorg?” Ivan had recently taken over the division and his predecessor had attempted a botched reorganization, so the CEO was understandably concerned about more churn. Ivan responded with: “Well, we have a new set of strategic pillars, including launching a new hardware product bundled with our software. We need an organization design that can deliver.” The CEO’s response was telling. He said, “You mean every time we change the strategy, we need to change the organization? Why can’t you just force alignment by tying everyone’s goals to the same outcomes?”

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. When it comes to executing strategy, alignment means configuring all of the organization’s assets in the service of your stated strategy and making sure there is no confusion about what each part of the organization does to bring it to life.

If you’re embarking on executing your company’s strategy, here are six ways to make sure your organization is designed to do it successfully.

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀.

A clear strategy ultimately differentiates you from your competitors. But to ensure that what sets you apart is more than a mere aspiration, you have to build the organizational capabilities needed to actually surpass your competitors.

Know what your current organization is and isn’t capable of and what capabilities you need to achieve the newly articulated strategy. Unlike competencies, which belong to individuals, capabilities are organizational. For example, innovation as an organization capability may result from integrating R&D, consumer analytics, marketing, and product development.

In Ivan’s case, he needed to build new capabilities that didn’t exist in his division, like product engineering, managing outsourced manufacturing, and new ways of going to market. The existing organization was largely designed to deliver software as a service, and had Ivan attempted to execute his strategy through that design, the new hardware product would have been marginalized.

Every strategy will demand unique competitive capabilities that clearly enable your success. This work that forms these capabilities is work you must be better at than competitors.

𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 “𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.”

Not all work is equal. True competitive work will get you $5 for every $1 you invest in it. However, “everyday work” — tasks that can be done on par with anyone else or in compliance with regulatory requirements, or even work that adds no value to the final product — must be resourced according to its strategic importance. Problems occur when your competitive and necessary work get too close or intermixed. In other words, the immediacy of everyday tasks takes away from the focus on competitive work.

This is especially challenging when the definitions of “everyday work” and “competitive work” change. In Ivan’s case, the role of product engineering had previously been focused solely on ensuring the division’s software could operate on various devices, and the team was buried two levels down within the engineering group. Because the division added its own hardware product, that everyday work became competitive work. To make sure it was competitively resourced, it needed to be elevated to the top of the division, separated from but closely linked to the software products, and staffed with top talent.

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀.

In the organizations we work with, governance design — which defines who gets to make decisions and allocate resources — is often too complicated or unclear to be effective. For a strategy to be successful, those closest to the most relevant information, budgets, and problems are the best equipped to make decisions. When leaders have proximity to an issue but no authority, authority without the needed resources, or control of the budget but not the people, the decisions tend to follow hierarchical lines. These decisions made at the top may be strategically sound but impossible to implement given how far away they’re made from those who must actually execute them.

Ivan recognized that for the division’s software and hardware offerings to remain equal in importance and integrated when necessary, he needed a cross-functional team expressly focused on just that. He knew that if everything escalated to his executive team, they would be regularly embroiled in the natural tensions arising from the new organization design.

So, he created a customer success council that included leaders from both product organizations, sales, customer analytics, and those managing the outsourced manufacturing. He empowered them to manage the strategic priorities, trade-offs, and potential conflicts across the organization. This ensured that critical decisions and resources were located with the cross-functional leaders best equipped to make them. This became especially important as sales people were quickly and successfully selling bundled offerings. Had this team not served as the air-traffic control of the deal flows and prioritization of client resources, it could have been a customer service disaster.

𝗦𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.

The new governance is often no match for the legacy behaviors and processes that remain. Like layers of wallpaper in an old house, sometimes you need to strip down to the sheetrock to make way for new décor. Leaders must not only design new governance, they must also strip away previous processes and governance that are no longer contributing to the strategy’s success.

In Ivan’s case, his predecessor had set up several councils that had begun gaining momentum in the service of their old strategy. Those needed to be purged to ensure his new governance design could succeed without confusion or undue conflicts.

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆.

We’ve all heard the cliché “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” but culture is just one ingredient that enables your strategy’s success. Understand the way your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors motivate other leaders to think, feel, and behave in similar ways. And whether you realize it or not, existing values may be rooted in a previous strategy. Consider an organization whose strategy is moving toward increased innovation and has a corporate value of precision. A value like precision could lead to over analyzing and a low tolerance for risk — the very things needed to encourage a more innovative culture.

Ivan’s company emphasized results orientation as a key tenet of its culture, but it often reinforced highly individualistic action at the expense of collaborative work. His new divisional design’s success was predicated on a substantial degree of cross-functional collaboration, so his executive team had a spirited debate about how to temper the individualistic interpretation of results orientation to ensure it didn’t undermine people’s ability to work in teams.

If you want your values to really matter, you must root them in all organizational decisions. For a company’s values to feel integral to the lifeblood of the organization, they must be visibly central to how the organization competes.

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁.

Too frequently, leaders assume that a few nips and tucks to the org chart are the equivalent of good design. But those are the Frankenstein “designs” that make people in different parts of the organization feel like they work in different companies. They quickly grow stagnant and are more fit for the PowerPoint slides on which they’re loosely drawn than for a dynamic business. For your structure to enable your strategy, it must be agile enough to face the shifts, challenges, and opportunities from its marketplace, stakeholders, and employees.

Nine months into his new design, several of Ivan’s strategic partners located in Ukraine were no longer able to provide the technical services they’d long delivered. Drawing on the expertise of leaders from across the division, the customer success team was able to quickly test and learn where they could make up for that loss of expertise. They identified multiple potential suppliers across the globe and made the decision to better distribute risk by contracting with four of them. Nimble structures allow for readily addressing these unforeseen challenges by making sure that coordination across the organization is easily achieved.

. . . If you want to raise the odds of successfully executing your company’s strategy, invest the time in aligning your organization’s design to embody the strategy. Instead of relying exclusively on the alignment of goals and metrics, broaden your understanding of alignment to include all the components of your organization. Make sure they fit together congruently into a cohesive organization. You’ll signal to your people that you’re serious about the strategy and avoid the cynical eye-rolling that often accompanies the announcement of strategies that everyone knows can’t be executed.