Through surveys and available data, we've examined hundreds of small businesses and come away with six archetypal sets of practices and characteristics that we believe are representative of most growth companies operating today.
The qualifications were simple: Companies had to be domestically owned, privately held, for-profit and have shown net capacity growth over at least two years, with an employee size in 2015 of 10 to 1,000.
Below, we examine the traits of Classics, one of the six archetypes of the Entrepreneur360™ Performance Index. To see the other five archetypes, click here.
Classics place an emphasis on sales but glue themselves to the middle of the road when it comes to most management practices. Because of their sales focus, Classics express confidence about continuing growth, and their sales, marketing and HR teams handle the growth in stride.
Key characteristics
- They express relatively high confidence in growth, apparently because they are sales-focused, seek customer input in planning and work hard to communicate success to customers. Even their charitable contributions are seen as supporting customer relations.
- They solicit input from employees in business planning.
Takeaway
In spite of all we hear about leading-edge management practices and disruptive companies, there is still plenty of room for more conventional companies to notch growth year after year. Markets don’t award extra points for being flashy, and success can be built around a mastery of sales.
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321GoProject
Founded: 2011
Business Type: Marketing
Website: http://321goproject.com
Bai Brands, LLC
Founded: 2008
Business Type: Beverage
Website: http://www.drinkbai.com
Bizness Apps
Founded: 2010
Business Type: Software
Website: https://www.biznessapps.com
BloomBoard
Founded: 2010
Business Type: Education technology
Website: https://bloomboard.com
BucketFeet
Founded: 2011
Business Type: Shoes
Website: http://www.bucketfeet.com
ClicksMob
Founded: 2012
Business Type: Advertising
Website: http://clicksmob.com
Craftsy
Founded: 2010
Business Type: E-learning
Website: http://www.craftsy.com
Crowdtap
Founded: 2009
Business Type: Marketing
Website: http://home.crowdtap.com
Enovative Group
Founded: 2006
Business Type: Energy-efficient water systems
Website: http://www.enovativegroup.com
Gazelle Globalization Group
Founded:
Business Type: Translation
Website: http://www.g3translate.com
Her Campus Media
Founded: 2009
Business Type: Publishing
Website: http://www.hercampus.com
HoneyBook
Founded: 2011
Business Type: Event Planning
Website: https://www.honeybook.com
Interlude
Founded: 2010
Business Type: Video
Website: https://interlude.fm
Localytics
Founded: 2009
Business Type: Marketing
Website: http://www.localytics.com
MediaBrix
Founded: 2011
Business Type: Advertising
Website: http://www.mediabrix.com
MJ Freeway
Founded: 2010
Business Type: Software
Website: http://www.mjfreeway.com
MobileX Labs
Founded: 2012
Business Type: App development
Website: http://mobilexlabs.com
Noribachi
Founded: 2007
Business Type: Lighting manufacturing
Website: http://noribachi.com
Playwire
Founded: 2011
Business Type: Video
Website: http://www.playwire.com
QuotaFactory
Founded: 2002
Business Type: Sales consulting
Website: http://www.quotafactory.com
Reelio
Founded: 2012
Business Type: Social-media consulting
Website: http://reelio.com
Rocksauce Studios
Founded: 2010
Business Type: App development
Website: http://rocksaucestudios.com
Spokeo
Founded: 2006
Business Type: People-search platform
Website: http://www.spokeo.com
Synduit
Founded: 2011
Business Type: Software
Website: http://synduit.com
TerraCycle
Founded: 2001
Business Type: Recycling
Website: https://www.terracycle.com/en-US
United By Blue
Founded: 2010
Business Type: Apparel and accessories
Website: http://unitedbyblue.com
UpCounsel
Founded: 2012
Business Type: Legal
Website: https://www.upcounsel.com
VMTurbo
Founded: 2008
Business Type: Software
Website: http://vmturbo.com
Votto Vines Importing
Founded:
Business Type: Wine importing/distribution
Website: http://www.vottovines.com
Y Media Labs
Founded: 2009
Business Type: Mobile
Website: http://www.ymedialabs.com
Read more about each archetype:
For Entrepreneur360 'Data Champions,' Success is Steady, Plotted and Planned
What Entrepreneur360 'Controllers' Know: Watch Markets and Keep the Customer Happy
The Success Secrets That Helped the 'Best Practicers' Land on the Entrepreneur360
How Staying in Front of the Pack Helped the 'Forward Thinkers' Nab a Spot on the Entrepreneur360
Growing Against the Grain: Meet the Entrepreneur360 'Contrarians'
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