THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM

Some small businesses fail not from the lack of customers, but from far too many. In their attempt to attract an influx of customers via smart branding, they erect, whether intentionally or not, a façade.

This façade becomes a problem when their inability to align capability with capacity becomes the norm and not the exception. Is it possible to save these fast-growing businesses from implosion?

THE FAST GROWTH PREDICAMENT

The author, Alicia Butler Pierre, draws on her 13 years of experience as both a consultant and an entrepreneur to answer this very question. She describes this type of hyper-growth as a "predicament," suggesting that there is hope. Behind the Façade is a guide on how to prepare for (and recover from) the fast growth predicament.

ROOT CAUSES

The desire to hide the painful realities of fast-growth finds business owners at the mercy of their customers and other stakeholders as they struggle to fulfill orders and meet deadlines without compromising quality. Alicia argues this is the result of an imbalance in one or more of three laws: Supply & Demand, Conservation, and Polarity.

Unfortunately, when these owners proactively seek resolution, they often find that manufacturing and larger enterprises have access to the lion's share of operations management resources. The solution these small businesses require lies in a business infrastructure that defines the people, processes, and tools necessary to match customer perception to operational reality.

THE METHODOLOGY AS A SOLUTION

Alicia presents the Kasennu methodology as a cohesive framework to build business infrastructure. Specifically, it offers a way to link people, processes, and tools together so a company can effectively "clone" itself and repeat success profitably.

BEYOND CASE STUDIES

Behind the Façade uses unconventional storytelling, rather than traditional case studies, to demonstrate Kasennu's application and maintenance. Through the businesses profiled in these stories, you will follow along in the footsteps of the owners as they learn:

• Why task, department and role identification is critical to establishing a foundation;
• How disaster recovery and business continuity considerations impact records management;
• Why the layout of your workspace affects productivity and efficiency; and
• How to identify and document business processes for consistent results.

REVIEW

"The book strips away the 'façade' of competent management operational command to discuss how many companies literally use proverbial 'duct tape' to patch together client fulfillment, while struggling to keep up with the opportunity's most basic requirements. The true genius of this book is how Ms. Pierre explains these potential problems with precision, and illustrates, in some instances, dilemmas with succinct diagrams that can illuminate the problem for even a too-busy-to-read CEO who needs to be rescued. I highly recommend reading this book as both a solution for stumbling business managers grappling to catch their breath and survive, or as preventive medicine for those managers that recognize the need for some real-world tactical lessons that didn't come with their MBAs."

--Charles H. Green, small business financier; author, Get Financing Now (McGraw-Hill, 2012)