Maxim's new approach to growth - Chinese bamboo

Over the past three years, Maxim Enterprises have received many awards for their growth in the mortgage field industry.  These years have proved to be very challenging in managing this growth from personnel, technology and client perspective.  Most people associate growth in a vertical manner where sales might go from $1 million to $10 million, increase personnel from 10-45 and going from one server to a platform of blade servers.  These instances have been the case with Maxim as we have been challenged to grow our business in a vertical manner.  Many of these scenarios come with high risk and high reward. 

When we have won these types of rewards, I have been asked the question of "How do you maintain this fast pace, vertical growth in your company"?  My response has usually been, "We have great subcontractors, great office staff and a little bit of luck never hurt us".  This has been a fact that we have had and currently still have great contractors and office staff.  However, how much luck can a company have?  This started to make me think of of a quote that I heard - "Luck is when opportunity meets preparation".  Maxim has been and is currently very fortunate to be in an industry where there is so much opportunity. So, what about preparation?  What is Maxim doing in the way of preparation so that the "luck" does not run out? 

Over the last four to five months, Maxim has been in a creative destruction process with the company. Joseph Schumpeter defined creative destruction as a process in which the old ways of doing things are endogenously destroyed and replaced by new ways.  By taking this approach Maxim's staff and it subcontractors have created a new spirit of it opportunities that lie ahead.  Moreover, Maxim has been able to prepare in a different manner for the upcoming wave of foreclosures.  We have introduced our on-line library of contractor and processor training.  Weekly webinars and audio conferences of upcoming events have taken place on a regular schedule to inform staff and contractor of changes in clients expectations.  Additionally, the ability to measure contractor and staff performance has created a new level of achievement.  These are just a few of the items we have created for Maxim to be prepared. 

If you have gotten this far in the article, I congratulate you for following my thoughts on growth.  But, you maybe we wonder why is the title called Maxim's new approach to growth - Chinese bamboo.  It is rather simple.  Like I had mentioned before about growth, it is usually associated with vertical gains.  However, a company can grow horizontally as well. This is where the Chinese bamboo and Maxim have a correlation.  When you grow Chinese bamboo, you plant the seed and nourish it with sun and water.  However, after a year of care and nourishment the bamboo does not grow vertically.  Even after the second, third and fourth year of caring for the plant, the plant may not show any growth from the ground upward.  In the fifth year, the Chinese bamboo has the potential to grow up to 80 feet in a year.  The important factor to remember in this bamboo is that the root structure has grown horizontally so that when grow does occur the bamboo will have the infrastructure to grow vertically.  The point I am trying to drive home here is that thought Maxim's creative destruction period, we have been planting seeds of bamboo and nourishing them over the past five months.  From an outsiders point of view, you may see Maxim as not grow vertically as it once did.  However, from inside the company we are nourishing it contractors and staff with a list of items that will help create an outstanding infrastructure that will be able to handle its next wave of growth with greater ease.

Click on the Maxim icon to listen to a sample of what Maxim's staff and contractors are listening to