Keith McFarland on What Makes a Breakthrough Company

Synopsis

The vast majority of small businesses stay small - and not by choice. Only the most savvy and persistent a tiny one tenth of one percent break through to annual sales above $250 million. In The Breakthrough Company, Keith McFarland pinpoints how everyday companies become extraordinary, showing that luck is a negligible factor. Rather, breakthrough success turns out to be associated with a clearly identifiable set of strategies and skills that anyone in any business can emulate - from small startup to industry leader. Encouraged by experts such as business legend Peter Drucker and Good to Great author Jim Collins to identify the drivers that enable a company to push past the entrepreneurial phase, McFarland spent five years building and analyzing the world's largest growth-company performance database and interviewing more than 1,500 growth-company executives on four continents. His goal was simple: to identify the secrets of breakthrough. Keith is founder of McFarland Strategy Partners -- which has helped scores of middle market companies like Vans and House of Blues achieve breakthrough performance. McFarland's Rapid Enterprise Development (RED) process helps companies tap the knowledge and insights of a broad cross section of employees in a company to identify and exploit key strategic opportunities. Prior to establishing his consulting firm, Keith served as CEO of two leading technology companies -- including two-time Inc. 500 winner Collectech Systems. Under his leadership Collectech developed proprietary technology to optimize customer care and receivables management processes for some of the nation's leading communication companies like AT&T, Verizon, and DirectTV.

About the Author(s)