I truly love it when I hear managers of successful companies whom I have never met tell growth management success stories. Stories like the one I wrote about in the June 2005 issue of the magazine again confirms the validity of the basic principles and practices of the growth management process I have been preaching for so many years.

Puppy Love and Growth

A Real-Life Growth Management Love Story

I can write about how to ensure success and avoid pitfalls when growing a business, but it never seems to have the same impact as hearing a real-life story of a company that has experienced it. I recently attended a dinner meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, where I heard Philip Francis the CEO of PETsMART speak. As I sat and listened to him, it was almost like I was hearing my words coming out of his mouth. As he told the story of their growth, it seemed so familiar. Here was the CEO of a public company telling a story so many other owners struggling to grow their companies could relate to. Obviously, PETsMART’s current sales of more than $3 billion are much higher than most of the readers of this magazine, but PETsMART grew from a start-up with just two stores in 1987.

Outgrew our infrastructure

Right from the start, Mr. Francis hit a nerve. He began with a topic at the very foundation of good growth management, one I have presented numerous times in this column. He said PETsMART was started with a great idea. An idea that met a need in the market and allowed the company to “take off and grow very quickly.” The problem was they grew so quickly that, in his words, “We almost lost it.” He attributed the near loss of the company to “outgrowing its infrastructure.”

There it was, confirmation again of what many of us have been saying for years; companies can and do grow themselves out of business. In PETsMART’s case, Mr. Francis recognized what was happening when he was hired as CEO in 1998 and was able to pull the company back before it totally disintegrated. To save it, they needed to put a temporary hold on their expansion. He said, “Totally rebuild the structure of the company so it could sustain and control the operations and organization of the larger company.”

The company was saved because he understood the concept of growth management and the need to match infrastructure support with sales growth. He knew that to continue to grow successfully he needed to “close the gaps in support.” The company, he admitted, learned some valuable but expensive and nearly fatal lessons as they grew. One lesson he specifically highlighted was realizing the type and quality of people required to turn the company around and achieve continued successful growth.

We focus on the fit of the employee

He and his management team understood how important organizational culture would be to the turnaround efforts and to the ability of the company to successfully achieve its long-term growth goals. They also understood their company had an opportunity to create a unique “pet-family centered” culture. To accomplish this and create a strong and lasting culture, he said that the company “would have to focus their hiring process on finding the ‘right‘ employees to fit that culture.” Their employees, beyond the more standard work ethic and personality requirements, would have to have a “passion for pets.”

He also made a statement again confirming to me that, when