Gazelle Company – examples
- Many gazelle companies over the past three decades have been either hi-tech or Internet businesses. For example, Apple, Dell, Yahoo, Cisco, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google were gazelle companies during their initial years.
- Facebook was a gazelle company, and so was Twitter. The two social networking sites have grown their user bases amazingly fast. However, it took them longer to leverage their user-base growth into spectacular sales and profit growth.
- According to iFRAP, the average French gazelle company started off with €800,000 ($943,000) of equity capital and 13 workers. The average British gazelle company, on the other hand, began with €1.6 million ($1.88 million) and 26 workers.
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Some gazelles keep bounding along, some get tired and slow down, and some get eaten by big cats. Gazelle companies like Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), and Amazon (AMZN) seem like they won't get caught by competitors. Perhaps this is because they have become too large to be acquired. Or they became so big they have eliminated true business competitors. The natural maturation process of their businesses also makes it difficult for them to remain gazelles as they grow larger in size.
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Other gazelles, with their rapid and flashy strides in the open field, may attract the attention of big predatory cats. These larger cats could jump on them and eat them, literally, through an acquisition, or they could enter their markets and claim market share for themselves, using their existing infrastructure to shake up the landscape. Social media giant Instagram makes a good example, having been acquired by Facebook. Mobile-messaging provider Whatsapp and the virtual reality company Oculus shared the same fate.
When a business booms this quickly, it can easily get caught up in its growth. Following these nine simple tips can help position gazelle companies towards success, so they can continue to expand for years to come.
Tips for Success Among Gazelle Companies
1. Practice Consistency
- When your operations are consistent, it’s easier for employees to notice an abnormality that needs to be addressed. Furthermore, consistent operations make it easier for new team members to acclimate to the company. This factor is a must for a growing business.
2. Focus on Client Service
- It’s paramount that a company never forgets the people who got them to this point of success -- the clients. Therefore, don’t let the rapid growth distract account managers and other employees from providing excellent service at all times.
3. Instill a Teamwork-Driven Company Attitude
- An employee should never respond to a manager with “that’s not my job.” If something needs to be done, it’s every team member’s responsibility to do what is in their power to meet the objective.
4. Foster Creativity
- Not only will your employees appreciate a work environment that allows them to stretch their creative muscles, a company that encourages creativity is better able to solve problems that arise with rapid growth.
5. Pay Attention to Competition
- Your company doesn’t need to live and die by what your competitors are doing, but ignoring them opens up a giant blind spot that can be taken advantage of in the future.
6. Be Painfully Organized
- When it comes to growth, it’s easy for a company to set certain things aside for them to get lost in the shuffle only to realize down the road that having that certain thing on hand could be a real help. When it comes to operations, over-organize just to be safe.
7. Outsource When Needed
- The more your company grows, the more big picture ideas you need to stay on top of your market. Make sure your big picture people have enough time to follow through with their ideas by outsourcing work where needed -- for instance, in software development.
Gazelle companies and their speedy growth are becoming more and more common. At SFO, we help gazelle companies stay on top of their growth by helping them with Strategic Directions ( Capital, Markets, Talent ).