The fine balance behind building a scalable business
Growing as a business while remaining agile is a fine balance that many entrepreneurs grapple with, says McKenzie Intelligence Services Founder and CEO Forbes McKenzie.
When it comes to business, bigger is not always better. Or, as New Yorker staff writer and best-selling author of David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell puts it somewhat more eloquently: “There is a law of diminishing returns. There are clearly advantages of scale, but they cap out, and beyond a certain scale extra size just gets in your way as opposed to enabling you to be effective.”
Entrepreneurs the world over grapple with this challenge – as their business grows, the task of staying as nimble and as innovative as you were as a start-up gets much harder.
It’s a conundrum I often think about. MIS has grown and matured from its inception in 2011, as an insurtech start-up pioneer in the use of high frequency imaging data to solve complex business problems into a mature intelligence services business backed by private investment, and operating from a HQ in London with regional offices across the UK and USA.
Our user base has tripled in the last 24 months, last year we were awarded European Space Agency co-funding to develop the next generation of our technology in the form of the Global Event Observatory, and we’re supercharging our automation and machine learning capabilities with upgraded capacity to deliver ultra high resolution drone and aerial imagery as well as advanced financial exposure analysis at portfolio level.
Growth at any cost?
Our supportive and loyal investors took a big risk in backing us at the start of our journey – and now this risk is being rewarded with the delivery of a truly scalable business model. But how should we develop in the future? Is world domination on the cards?
The short answer is no.
Our assets and our USPs are our expertise – our unparalleled ability to harness the most sophisticated geospatial data insights and our capability to adapt and upgrade our technology and processes quickly.
Our focus is on expanding the depth of our business above and beyond its breadth.
We will continue to work with our global clients, which span a range of industries including insurance, with a focus on delivering the service and insights that they want, not what we think they want.
As Lloyd’s preferred geospatial data intelligence and imagery provider since 2016, our target for our target for 2021 is to continue to grow as the leading provider of highly advanced claims and exposure insights in the global specialty insurance market. We will continue to offer and enhance the necessary tried and tested expertise to allow insurers to integrate new data into their processes in a heavily regulated environment smoothly and efficiently.
We don’t want to rule the world. We believe it is far better to be the highest quality and most trusted provider in our field, and an integral part of the global, high tech insurance ecosystem.
This is what we mean by value added intelligence. This is the balance we are striking for 2021, and with our mindset and expertise we are confident that the returns will not be diminishing.
Watch this space for more exciting news about our growth and development.
