Breaking Down the Four Pillars Business Growth Framework
This guide is for business owners who have already put in the effort but are looking for something new or a structured plan to help them develop a strategy for business growth. This isn't about the latest growth hack or how to use ChatGPT; rather, it’s based on real-world experience in growing businesses.
I have nearly 20 years of experience in private equity and mergers and acquisitions. While I'm no expert in football strategies, I do know that running the ball isn’t a strategy but an activity. The difference between activities and strategies is crucial; strategies consist of various activities. For example, a company might think that having team members contact customers to ask about their needs is a strategy, but it’s actually an activity that should be part of a larger strategy.
Many business owners mistake activities for strategies, especially in sales and marketing. Simply having a team member as the primary customer contact is beneficial, but it doesn't constitute a strategy. Throughout this guide, I will discuss how these principles apply to some of our portfolio companies, such as Southwest Steel, QPD, Dark Casting, and the Mothership Four Pillars.
Before we begin, a word of caution: these strategies will take longer to execute than you might expect. Some growth initiatives have taken up to two years before showing results, often due to delays in bureaucracy. It’s also helpful to watch or listen to this discussion in conjunction with episodes on strategic planning, as the two topics go hand-in-hand.
The Importance of Challenging the Status Quo
One of our core principles is to challenge the status quo, which, in my mind, is synonymous with growth. Growth is challenging and involves risk, but it’s also exciting and fun. Stay tuned as we explore how we have used these methods to grow our portfolio companies.
When solving a problem, I use a framework called MECE, which stands for Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive. This framework, popularized by McKinsey & Company, ensures that all potential options are considered without overlap. For example, if we're figuring out what to eat for dinner, the first decision might be to eat or not to eat. Each option excludes the other, making them mutually exclusive. This process continues until all possible options are identified.
Growth Options
Similar logic applies to growth options, which can be organic or through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Organic growth refers to expanding through internal processes, using the company’s own resources. In contrast, growth via M&A involves acquiring a complementary business.
Within organic growth, there are different approaches:
Inbound vs. Outbound
Inbound: Activities designed to stimulate interest in your business through advertising or marketing, resulting in prospects proactively contacting you. This method is often associated with software and tech companies but is applicable to any business. Inbound marketing can include tactics like content marketing, SEO, and social media engagement.
Outbound: Traditional sales methods where the company initiates contact with prospects, such as cold calling or email marketing campaigns. The key distinction is whether the customer or the company initiates the contact.
Deciding who will perform these functions is part of the overall strategy. Another critical element is determining which products or services will drive growth. This can mean increasing the capacity of existing capabilities or adding new ones.
Operational Improvements
Operational improvements can also drive growth. For example, if a lead technician spends 50% of their billable hours on administrative work, hiring an admin can increase capacity. Process improvement is a broad topic, and we'll cover it in a future guide. In the meantime, for those interested in learning more, check out "Learning to See" by Mike Rother and John Shook.
New Products or Services
Offering new products or services can also fuel growth. For example, a landscaping firm might add tree trimming services or new equipment to diversify its offerings. Expanding capabilities allows companies to reduce reliance on other vendors and provide more comprehensive solutions to their customers.
Geographic Expansion
For location-based businesses, adding a new location in a different geography is another growth option. This can help capture new markets and increase overall revenue.
Customer Strategy
Now that we’ve laid out various growth options, it’s time to consider the type of customers to target and what they'll be spending on. Here are six options:
Increase prices
Increase line items
Increase quantities
Introduce new products
The first two options are relevant only to existing customers, while the latter four can apply to both new and existing customers.
Maximizing Revenue Growth Through Strategic Customer Engagement
Increasing revenue is a primary goal for any business. One effective strategy to achieve this is by getting your customers to pay a higher price for the same goods and services. While raising prices is straightforward in concept, it requires careful execution and strategic planning. Our experience shows that price increases should be part of an ongoing strategy to grow revenue and encourage existing customers to buy more of what they already purchase.
Understanding the Complexity of Price Increases
Many sales professionals might instinctively resist price increases, believing it will drive customers away. However, the reality is rarely black and white. Raising prices can be done successfully with finesse and a clear understanding of your customers' needs. It's essential to recognize situations where your customer might be buying the same product or service from multiple vendors. In such cases, there's potential to capture a larger share of their business.
Encouraging Existing Customers to Buy More
Increasing the quantity of products or services that existing customers purchase can significantly boost your revenue. This approach involves identifying unmet needs within your current portfolio and offering solutions that your customers are not currently buying from you. For instance, if your customers are using another firm for a specific service, you could offer a better or more convenient alternative.
Additionally, consider introducing new products or services that complement your existing offerings. Enhancing your current product or service lineup can entice customers to spend more. For example, in the manufacturing sector, adding secondary operations like special coatings or machining can provide additional value to your customers.
Case Study: Southwest Steel Fabrication
Southwest Steel Fabrication is a company specializing in structural and miscellaneous steel fabrication. To grow their business, they evaluated six strategic options:
Increase Prices
While this was an option for government jobs, it wasn't feasible for hard-bid projects. They explored potential price increases but concluded it wouldn't be a dominant growth strategy.
Increase Line Items
This involved getting existing customers to buy products they weren't currently purchasing. However, since they were already providing everything needed for given projects, this didn't seem viable.
Increase Quantities to Existing Customers
This also proved challenging, as they were already bidding on every project possible for their existing customers.
Introduce New Products
Considering new products like large steel girders for bridges was a possibility, but they weren't sure about pursuing it due to the complexity and scale of the challenge.
Increase Quantities to New Customers
This was identified as an interesting opportunity. They had the capabilities to provide structural steel to commercial buildings, offices, and schools, but lacked the capacity to meet the required quantities. This option was earmarked for further exploration.
Introduce New Products to New Customers
Similar to introducing new products to existing customers, this wasn't a primary focus area.
After evaluating these options, Southwest Steel decided to focus on increasing the quantities of existing products to new customers. They invested in automated equipment to increase capacity and reduce human error. This strategy allowed them to double their business and achieve significant growth.
Implementing Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Strategies
For businesses considering M&A to drive growth, there are five key areas to assess:
Who Will Do the Work?
Decide whether the process will be handled internally, outsourced, or a hybrid approach.
Company Size
Determine the size of the target company, whether it's a smaller competitor or a similar-sized company.
Financing the Transaction
Evaluate whether the acquisition will be financed through operating cash flows, bank debt, or other means.
Horizontal vs. Vertical Integration
Decide whether to pursue horizontal integration (acquiring a competitor) or vertical integration (acquiring a supplier or customer).
Location
Consider where the target company is located and how it aligns with your business goals.
Executing an M&A strategy is complex and requires careful planning. It's essential to have clear guidelines and policies, involve stakeholders, and stay informed about industry standards and best practices.
Choosing the Right Business Broker or Investment Banker
I've shared my thoughts on business brokers and investment bankers in prior videos and in my ebook, but I'll summarize here. Many business owners make excellent decisions in running and growing their businesses but often make poor choices when hiring a banker or broker. This is crucial for those selling their business, but it also applies when hiring a buy-side advisor.
Another crucial factor to consider is size. The ideal size will be impacted by your company's size and the financing available for the acquisition. Will the acquisition be funded from internal cash flows? Will you, as the owner, put up the majority of the capital, or will you seek third-party financing such as bank debt? All methods can be effective, but the decision needs to be made, and the size of the target and how to finance the deal are linked.
It's also helpful to think about the type of company you want to acquire. Will the company increase your current capabilities or bring new ones? There's no wrong answer, but it should be thoroughly considered.
The Importance of Location
What impact does location have on the process? Sometimes, the ideal acquisition candidate will be nearby. In other cases, a longer distance might make more sense. There's no wrong answer, but be cautious. In my experience, location is one of the hardest variables to solve. Prioritizing location can either lengthen the process or force you to relax other criteria.
The Four C's of Acquisition Strategy
To determine what type of horizontal or vertical integration to pursue, I think about the four C's:
Customers: Acquire customers to pursue M&A because you want business from a specific customer or industry. This can help with issues like customer concentration but be careful to avoid overconcentration in any market, especially cyclical industries like automotive.
Capabilities: If your company cannot provide a desirable product or service, it might make sense to acquire a company that already offers it.
Capacity: Sometimes, it's easier to acquire another business to add capacity rather than expanding your own facilities. In service businesses, desired capacity can be human capital, not just equipment or square footage.
Competition: This usually involves a combination of the above but aims to grow your company by bringing a competitor in-house.
Case Study: Dart Casting
Dart Casting, located in the Chicago suburb of Alsip, Illinois, had grown well over the years without overconcentrating within the automotive industry. We wanted to grow organically but faced challenges as all opportunities seemed to be in the automotive sector. An acquisition opportunity arose with General Die Casters, which offered a wide range of capabilities on high-tonnage machines similar to Dart. We closed the acquisition in early 2023, and the companies have been working towards full integration.
Partnering with a private equity firm can increase the likelihood of M&A success and possibly shorten the timeframe. Four Pillars sourced the General Die Casters acquisition and aims to source our next one as well.
Strategic Planning Process
A crucial part of the Four Pillars Playbook is the strategic planning process. Here are the four steps:
Talk to Customers: Start by discussing with your customers to understand what matters most to them. Questions to ask include why they use your products or services, what features are important to them, and what makes it easy or hard to do business with your company.
Talk to M&A Candidates: Even if M&A isn't a priority, reaching out to potential targets to gather information can inform your broader strategy.
Analyze Results: Determine how you will pursue growth based on the insights from customer discussions. Evaluate options like organic growth, M&A, or a hybrid model, and decide on the in-house or outsourced execution.
Set SMART Goals: Establish Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals around your strategy.
Growth initiatives often face challenges and require constant monitoring. It's essential to review your progress against set goals regularly. As conditions change, you may need to tweak your strategy or adjust your goals. This isn't a "set it and forget it" approach; growth demands continuous attention and communication about progress.
Our Journey with Eagle Precision Sheet Metal (EPSM)
Our second platform acquisition was Eagle Precision Sheet Metal (EPSM). Our initial goal was to improve operations and grow both organically and through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The first significant growth opportunity came via M&A when the owner of a local machine shop, Turk Manufacturing, reached out to the former owners of EPSM. Their positive feedback about working with Four Pillars led Turk Manufacturing to decide they only wanted to sell to us.
While no transaction is without its ups and downs, this deal went relatively smoothly. At that point, we hadn't decided to rebrand as Qualified Production and Development (QPD) yet, but that is what the combined business is now called. After closing the transaction, we started with step one of our process. We discovered that our relationships with some customers were not as strong as they could be. To strengthen these relationships, we needed to show a willingness to grow with them by increasing capacity and adding new capabilities. Additionally, pursuing ISO certification became a must, as most of our existing and prospective customers were multinational corporations for whom ISO certification was essential.
Challenges and Realizations
The feedback from step one provided substantial growth potential, so we weren't ready to start step two. However, we were approached about another acquisition, which ultimately didn't close. Through this process, we realized that to attract new blue-chip customers, we needed to add capabilities in the form of human capital. Changes in the competitive dynamics of the local market allowed us to hire personnel who had previously worked for our competitors, adding another form of organic growth.
QPD is unique because it is a build-to-print shop, meaning it manufactures to the specifications outlined by the customer. Therefore, some types of growth, such as existing customers buying other products, are not applicable.
Key Components of Our Growth Strategy
While I have left out many details of our growth strategy, the key components are included. The results speak for themselves. We have successfully increased wallet share from our largest customers, added capabilities, and gained new customers. Despite the promising outcomes, the process took longer than expected. Although some customers were clamoring for parts that only we could produce, it still took around 18 months to obtain a supplier code. The bureaucratic hurdles were significant, but ultimately, it was worth it.
Overcoming Overwhelm and Moving Forward
When launching Four Pillars, my partner and I had more tasks than we could manage. It was easy to feel overwhelmed. Instead of succumbing to this feeling, we focused on taking small steps, tackling the most impactful projects, and maintaining momentum. This approach helped us achieve our current success.
When looking at this guide, one of the goals is to provide actionable steps on how to get started. There are a few concepts that have been crucial in our efforts, and I think we can all agree that the first two steps are relatively easy. The challenge will increase from there, but hopefully, this guide will make the process of setting the strategy a bit easier.