Secrets of Growth: Data, Trends and Insights from the Middle Market

Tom Stewart is the Executive Director of the National Center of the Middle Market. He joins me today to talk about the silent majority of middle market companies in the economy. Tom and his team research a segment of business that little is known about. Through this research, the Mid Market Center has found critical data that all business owners should know about their company.

Tom and I discuss the 7 factors of growth, the 3 types of entrepreneurs, and the 9 value points that all businesses need to consider when they are assessing their company. Tom explains the methods that lead to this information and how business owners can benefit from the data collected. We also dive into a study Tom was recently involved in regarding M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) and the information gleaned from it.

If you are a middle-market company or you have hopes to be one someday this episode will offer a roadmap for your business growth. Tune in to hear how you can use this data to take your business to the next level!

What you will learn:

• What is the National Center of the Middle Market?
• Who is the “middle market?”
• Tom’s background in business.
• Why middle market companies are important to the economy.
• The 3 purposes of the Mid Market Center: Education, Research, and Outreach.
• How innovation happens in business and what does the middle market have to do with it.
• The importance of having this knowledge about your company for investors.
• The cluster analysis and surveys conducted by the Mid Market Center.
• The 7 Factors of Growth.
• The 3 Groups of Leader Types.
• The 2 factors that are uncontrollable by management.
• A recent M&A study and the findings.
• The 9 value points of fitness for a company.
• Tom’s final thoughts.

Takeaway:

Take advantage of all the resources GEXP Collaborative and the National Center of the Middle Market have to offer. This data is a playbook for business growth. Pay attention to the 7 growth factors, which type of entrepreneur you are, and look at all 9 of the value points mentioned today. This information is important for a healthy growth strategy.

Links and Resources:

GEXP Collaborative
Tom Stewart on LinkedIn
The National Center of the Middle Market

About Tom:

Thomas A. Stewart is the Executive Director of the National Center for the Middle Market, the leading source for knowledge, leadership, and research on mid-sized companies, based at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Stewart is an influential thought leader on global management issues and ideas: an internationally recognized editor and publisher, an authority on intellectual capital and knowledge management, and a best-selling author.

Before joining the National Center for the Middle Market, Stewart served as Chief Marketing and Knowledge Officer for international consulting firm Booz & Company (now called Strategy&), overseeing the firm’s intellectual agenda, major research projects, and strategy + business magazine. Prior to that, he was for six years the Editor and Managing Director of Harvard Business Review, leading it to multiple finalist nominations for a National Magazine Award. He earlier served as the editorial director of Business 2.0 magazine and as a member of the Board of Editors of Fortune magazine.

His new book, Woo, Wow, and Win: Service Design, Strategy, and the Art of Customer Delight (co-authored with Patricia O’Connell), was published by Harper Business in November 2016. He is also the author of Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations and The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization, published by Doubleday Currency in 1998 and 2003, respectively. He has contributed chapters to four other books and published articles in Harvard Business Review, strategy + business, Fortune, Business 2.0., Inc., Financial Times, The Hill, Industry Week, Ad Age, and elsewhere. A twelve-time participant in the World Economic Forum, he has delivered lectures and seminars across the U.S. and in more than two dozen countries worldwide.

Stewart is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College and holds an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cass Business School, City University London.