Michael Teutsch never stands still. In fact, neither do his employees, which is pure evidence of the fast-paced culture Teutsch, founder and president of Etactics Inc., has implemented to grow the provider of electronic data interchange and statement services. If you really want to grow, you have to embody that decision and encourage your employees to do the same.
“The people who can’t keep pace with that have moved on, but the people who are here, it’s just part of who they are now,” Teutsch says of his 30 employees.
Smart Business spoke with Teutsch about how to embrace growth.
Q. What are the keys to growing a company?
First of all, I think you have to live it. In my mind, and this is not a Mike Teutsch axiom, but if you’re not growing, you’re dying. Everybody in a company has to believe that or else people become stagnant in what they do.
At Etactics, we add 30 to 50 new clients each month. People have to live by the thought that if you’re not growing today, then something is wrong. I think that’s why we’ve seen the significant growth.
Q. How do you get employees to embody the ‘if you’re not growing, you’re dying’ mentality?
It starts at the top. As the president of an organization, you can’t have the idea that where you are is good enough. Everybody who works for us wants to do better. They want to make more money next year; they want to have a better job, a better career.
As president, it is our job to create the environment where we can make that an opportunity for them to achieve those things. I feel that’s my role. I have to provide the opportunity.
Well, what’s the opportunity? In my mind, it all begins with growth because if you’re growing, a lot of times new opportunities just come at you because you’re growing. If you don’t embody that growth mentality, you’re just kind of sitting back and waiting.
