Technology leaders in Utah joined forces this past week for the Utah Technology Counci's (UTC) Utah County breakfast entitled "The Must-Haves for a High-Growth Company" which was held at the new University of Phoenix Pleasant Grove campus. The presenters were a pair of successful CEOs, Glen Mella from Control4 and Rich Hanks with Mindshare, who broke down their presentation into three parts.

Lack of money kills most young businesses, don't spend what you don't have
Sell. Sell yourself, sell your company, sell your employees
Build a great team around your business

Mella and Hanks presented the morning discussion in an informal, question-and-answer-type scenario. "Growth is often defined as a company being able to grow faster than the market around you," said Hanks. ">However, you must be willing to sacrifice what is needed for your young company in order to truly grow."

The growth process for companies is often a rocky one. "Lesson number one," Mella stated, "is to not put too much stock into marketing and other things you might not need right away. Instead ask yourself the question, 'can I deliver a product that people will pay money for now?'" Simply put, don't spend money you don't have to avoid the fate of many young businesses.

The CEOs impressed on the crowd an attitude of selling as a must to grow any business. "You've got to learn how to sell," said Hanks. "A boatload of time is spent in selling, stroking, and taking care of clients and employees, even if you hate selling, you must learn how to sell." He added the age-old adage that "customer satisfaction is still the key, especially right out of the gate if you're a new business."

Mella and Hanks believe that a systematic style of leadership is the most effective key when judging a business's standard of performance. " From the seat of your pants marketing to hiring a marketing firm, then to hiring a VP of marketing," said Hanks. Learn how to do things in your business before hiring someone else to do it for you. The same goes with your employees.

Employees have long been a query business leaders wonder, and worry, about. How do I deal with them? How do I gauge one's performance? How to do I dismiss the deadwood? Hanks spoke about a couple of mantras instituted at Mindshare with the breakfast crowd:

Teach your employees that our client's success equals your success, not the other way around.
Nobody graduates… all employees learn how the business works… no one is above any part of the work we have.

UTC President and CEO Richard Nelson summed up the morning saying, "We were enthused to hear from two great leaders in our state. The compelling advice they gave to the crowd was both entertaining and extremely relevant. Our members would be wise to heed their advice."

About Mindshare Technologies
Mindshare drives operational improvement. Using Mindshare, companies improve operational excellence, foster consumer satisfaction, build customer loyalty, and support employee retention. Our industry experts guide clients in building comprehensive enterprise feedback management (EFM) solutions. Mindshare's proprietary survey technology captures the voice of the customer in real-time and immediately transforms it into actionable intelligence through powerful and incisive reporting. Mindshare serves more than 25 different industries including travel, hospitality, restaurant, financial, salon, automotive, and retail. For information, visit www.mshare.net.