The Growth Imperative
What does the Growth Imperative economic term mean? In this episode of Incorporating Superpowers, host Justin Recla discusses with guest Philippe Bouissou how he helped take the Apple Store from $0 to over $350 million in revenue at its inception. Phillippe worked directly with Steve Jobs at Apple and now works with businesses with over $10million in revenue annually to grow their Top Line. His Book, Align the Dots, explores the aspects businesses need to focus on and examine to increase their top line. Tune in to understand the concept of the growth imperative in the business industry.
Justin Recla:
Welcome back to Incorporating Superpowers. Today, we are going to be tackling, well, something that is just vital to business, and that’s the growth imperative. That’s the fact that businesses have to grow. Grow or die, right? We can’t remain stagnant in our business, and my guest today has done a thing or two in this space. My guest today is Philippe, I’m going to try here, Philippe Bouissou.
Philippe Bouissou:
No, that’s very good.
Justin Recla:
Did I get it? All right. Perfect.
Philippe Bouissou:
It’s perfect.
Justin Recla:
Perfect. So Philippe Bouissou, and folks, you’re going to want to pay attention to this conversation because Philippe’s done a thing or two. One, he used to run Apple’s worldwide internet commerce group where, literally, he managed the online Apple store and grew its revenue from zero to 350 million under Steve Jobs, and nowadays, the Apple store online generates over 25 billion in revenue for that company. This is somebody that you’re going to want to listen to. You’re going to want to dive into his book. I know you’ve written a book called Aligning the Dots: The New Paradigm to Grow Any Business. Philippe, first and foremost, welcomes to the show.
Philippe Bouissou:
Thank you, Justin. It’s a pleasure being with you today.
Justin Recla:
So talk to me, Philippe, about the growth imperative. Why is it so important that businesses focus on growing their revenue?
Philippe Bouissou:
Yeah. I mean, you said it, which is it’s because it’s vital. I met with Bracken Darrell, the CEO of Logitech, a couple of years ago. He looked at me and he said, “You know, Philippe, there is only growth or death,” and he is right. If your business is not growing, then it’s on the path to becoming irrelevant. In fact, there is no other way to create sustainable and real value than to grow faster than the market in which the business operates. You have to beat the market.
If you don’t, then your competition will grow faster, and they will beat you and they will take away market share from you. You’re going to become an irrelevant business and you’re at the risk of dying. So that’s why growth is really, really important. It’s vital, as you said.
Justin Recla:
I love it. I was sifting through your book and you’ve got a little comic at the very beginning. It’s got people having a board meeting and they’re discussing it, and the CEO says, “You know, instead of risking anything new, let’s play it safe and continue our slow decline into obsolescence.” It’s just that, right? How much time and effort should a company focus on doing things new?
Philippe Bouissou:
Well, they have to do it all the time and it’s really, really hard. I mean, the status quo is so comfortable, and it’s not in our human nature to change and to want to do things differently.
The problem is that if you don’t, the market and your competition are definitely changing. They are adapting to new business models, new technologies, new innovations. If you are not changing yourself, then they will grow faster, and, again, you’re going to become irrelevant. So change is critical and, at the same time, it’s really, really hard for CEOs and entrepreneurs, and business leaders, but they have to do it. They have no choice.
Justin Recla:
Yeah, I agree. You’re listening to Incorporating Superpowers. We’re talking about the growth imperative with my guest today, Philippe Bouissou, who just got some amazing information to share. I know you’re doing a lot of work in the world, but we’re going to dive down this rabbit hole and explore your book, explore the Blue Dots Partners, and what you’re bringing to the business world on the backside of this conversation. But before we do, where can people go find more information about you?
Philippe Bouissou:
Well, they can go to aligningthedots.com, which is my own website, and they can also reach out to bluedotspartners.com, which is the firm that I’m managing about helping the company grow faster. And, of course, they can connect with me on LinkedIn at Philippe Bouissou so either one of those three ways is a good way to reach out to me.
Justin Recla:
Fantastic. Folks, stay with us because when we get back, we’re going to explore this conversation and the growth imperative on the backside of this conversation and dive down some of the information that Philippe’s got to share with you and how you can start growing your business. Stay tuned. We’ll be right back.
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