3 Ways to Catapult Your Business Success Whatever business you think you are in, you are really in the people business.
By Matt Mayberry Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Something that has always deeply fascinated me is learning about the journey that has helped in the development of a majorly successful company get to where they are now. I absolutely love hearing about all of the strategies and tactics that have drastically helped in their growth as an organization, but also all of the obstacles that they had to overcome along the way.
The one thing that I have learned over the years having the great fortune of sitting down with executives from major organizations as well as successful startup founders is that there is a learning opportunity within their success for all of us to benefit from regardless of what industry one is in.
Recently, I had the great opportunity to sit down with the founders and Managing Directors Dick King and Mark Timmerman, along with Vice President David Modiano of City Capital Advisors ("City Capital") based in Chicago, IL. City Capital is a uniquely positioned investment bank whose sole mission is to provide senior level expert advice and execution services to leading middle market companies and their owners.
In its relatively short 10 year history since Dick and Mark left 20 year careers at William Blair & Company, City Capital has successfully completed over 50 transactions aggregating over $4.0 billion in value. They advise owners and management of private and publicly held middle market companies, typically valued between $25 million and $500 million with merger and acquisition advisory, capital formation for executing leveraged buyouts and ownership recapitalizations, as well as executing corporate financial restructurings.
City Capital's biggest and most notable merger assignment to date concluded just two weeks ago when they advised Indiana's family-owned Jayco Corporation in a successful merger with publicly-traded Thor Industries Inc. for $576 million.
When sitting down with Dick, Mark, and David, we discussed how City Capital went from a small two-man show to becoming a leading deal broker and investment banking firm in the middle market space. Here are three things that City Capital credits to their success as well as help you to implement into your own business.
1. Find your niche market and grow there.
Whatever industry you are in, it's absolutely vital that you find your niche market and then develop a laser like focus to direct all of your time and energy in servicing that space. When Dick and Mark started City Capital, they admit that they didn't have a concise business plan, but the one thing that they did know was their niche market of middle-market companies and how they were going to bring extreme value there. You may be tempted to explore different, more potentially lucrative markets such as larger companies in City Capital's case, but don't give in. The leading companies that are dominating their markets make it a major priority to find their niche and then operate solely within the confines of that space.
Related: Find Your Niche in 60 Minutes or Less With These 4 Questions
2. Relationships matter most.
Co-founder and Managing Director, Dick King said, "We knew from the beginning that the one way we were going to differentiate ourselves was to build thriving business referral relationships. Everything in our business revolves around people and relationships, and that is one key area that we take very serious." I personally talk a lot about the importance of relationships, and when analyzing and digging beneath the surface to see what truly makes City Capital stand out from the rest of the competition, it's clear to see the strength of their professional relationships is at the top of the list.
One of the best things that you can do right now whether you are a startup or an established company is to place an enormous value on your relationships and always striving to give more than you take. This type of mentality will always serve your future success more than you can ever begin to imagine.
Related: If You Don't Build Relationships, Nothing Else Matters
3. Create a culture where everyone feels important.
Culture is and will forever always be a critical component in determining the health and success of any organization. The best organizations all the way from Fortune 500 companies down to small family-owned businesses with five employees create a culture where everyone feels important and wants to do everything possible to carry out the organization's overall mission. When discussing culture, Mark Timmerman said, "We wanted to create a culture where not only everyone feels important, but is also part of a tangible contributing factor to the future of our success." One of the ways that City Capital has created this culture is to not appoint a CEO. Even though Dick King and Mark Timmerman founded City Capital, they pride themselves in having developed a culture where other senior team members don't view them as bosses.
As a leader, it's your job to instill and demand a culture that makes everyone feel accountable mainly to themselves and of course to their customers. By creating a collaborative atmosphere and attracting highly-productive and talented senior investment bankers, it's truly amazing what can happen. City Capital is another example of just how important culture truly is, regardless of how big an organization is.
Related: 6 Steps for Creating a Strong Company Culture
It's my hope that these three things that have greatly impacted the success and growth of City Capital Advisors can serve as a springboard in creating more success in your own business.
