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DESIGNING A SUSTAINABLE GROWTH PLAN FOR STARTUPS

A CASE STUDY OF REMOTE BOB

Master of Science thesis in Global Business Management

LUCIJA MARJANOVIĆ MAR20504967

London, 2022

Table of contents

Executive Summary 3

Chapter 1: Research Question and Application Context 5 1.1 Background 5 1.2 Introduction to Partner Company - Remote Bob 6 1.3 Problem Description 7 1.4 Context Assessment and Findings 8

1.4.1 Analysis of Internal Capacity 8 1.4.2 Analysis of the External Environment 9

1.5 Purpose 10 1.6 Research Question 10

Chapter 2: Literature Review 12 2.1 Business Growth in Early Stages 13

2.1.1 Stages of Business Growth 14 2.2 Effective and Efficient Growth Management 15 2.3 Sustainable Growth 16

2.3.1 How To Sustain Business Growth? 17 2.4 Strategic Planning 17

Chapter 3: Methodology 19 3.1 Sampling of Interview Partners 20 3.2 Research Methods 20

3.2.1 Interviews 20 3.2.2 Proprietary Data Analysis 21

3.3 Process Overview 21 3.3.1 Phase 1: Problem Identification 21 3.3.2 Phase 2: Data Analysis 23 3.3.3 Phase 3: Problem and Solution Discussion 24

Chapter 4: Findings & Analysis 26 4.1 Main Problems From the Company’s Perspective 26

4.1.1 Constant Shift in Virtual Assistants 26 4.1.2 Trouble in contracting a global team 27 4.1.3 Uncertainty in the number of working hours 27

4.2 Main Problems from Researcher’s Perspective 27 4.2.1 Gap in Specific Education and Experience in Management Roles 28 4.2.2 Services are Not Tailored for a Specific Market 28 4.2.3 Lack of Stable Cash Flow and a Major Shift in Clients 29

4.3 Analysis 29

Chapter 5: Discussion 33

Chapter 6: Management Recommendations and Implementation Guidance 34 6.1 Recommendations For Improvements 34

Chapter 7: Conclusions and Outlook 36

Appendix A: Interview Guide 37

Appendix B: E-interview Guide 39

Bibliography 40

Executive Summary

This report is prepared to determine how to sustain business growth in a startup that has an

extensive market. Remote Bob is the partner company for this research that is based in

London and offers Virtual Assistants services to entrepreneurs globally. The company offers

a variety of tasks that can be done remotely by Assistants based in Eastern Europe and the

UK. The main vision of the company is to become a global community for Virtual Assistants

and a synonym for excellence in the industry as well as to provide specialised and trained

Assistants to both small and big companies around the world. As the company has a specific

business model that requires both sales and employment growth to increase in unison, the

purpose of this report is to determine what are the key obstacles in the way of sustained

business growth, what changes need to be done and at what pace should growth happen.

The case study involves both a theoretical framework and an empirical study. To understand

the context of growth and why it is important for a company, in the long run, the key

attributes of sustainable growth are presented, as well as how growth should be managed

effectively and efficiently. As part of an empirical study, interviews with two key

decision-makers and five Virtual Assistants have been conducted and preliminary data has

been analysed in order to determine potential patterns in business processes or determine

areas where change needs to be implemented. After analysing the data, there was a

noticeable lack of stable cash flow in the company which is crucial for sustained business

growth. Another interesting issue that was brought up several times is the constant change

in Virtual Assistants which then leads to a potentially poorer quality of service. As both

theoretical framework and empirical findings were combined, there were several areas that

stood out as the main ones to implement change. At this stage, the company would benefit

from a more tailored service toward clients as well as investing more resources in

specialised training for the management team and Virtual Assistants.

Chapter 1: Research Question and Application Context

1.1 Background

Typically, startups are young and small businesses with the purpose of creating a unique

product or service, bringing it to market, and making it irresistible and irreplaceable. The

main goal of a startup is to either improve the quality of existing products or create entirely

new categories of products and services, disrupting well-established ways of thinking and

doing business in a certain industry (Baldridge, 2021). Due to the fact that many business

procedures are the same and startups want to innovate in a market that is highly profitable

without needing a huge investment, they have been able to discover extremely profitable

niche markets to explore (Moroni, Arruda and Araujo, 2015). They operate just like any other

company and contain a hierarchy of employees working to create and produce a good or

service. Their main goal is to become a larger, more influential company that offers a

completely new type of service or product. They play an important role in driving societal

change, economic recovery, and responsible growth (World Economic Forum, n.d.).

According to Georgellis, growth - in employment and sales - is considered essential for small

businesses and startups in order to survive and perform better in a competitive market and

an environment that is constantly changing (Georgellis, Joyce and Woods, 2000). Unlike

small businesses, startups want to scale their businesses as quickly as possible and as a

result, they establish larger market shares, which in turn allows them to raise more money so

that they can continue growing their products and audience (Baldridge, 2021). Even though

scalability and rapid growth are what set startups apart from small businesses, they still need

to develop sustainably and responsibly in order to avoid any undesirable consequences

caused by uncontrollable growth, just like small businesses do as well (World Economic

Forum, n.d.).

This thesis presents a case study based on a startup with a specific business model where

both business growth in sales and employment are largely intertwined. The primary service

that the company offers is remote personal and administrative assistance for a variety of

tasks that help businesses in organising and/or growth. Remote assistance is done by

Assistants who are a part of Remote Bob’s community and represented by the Remote Bob

brand. Given the nature of the business, it is clear to see how sales and employment are

intertwined; by having more Assistants onboarded than active projects there is a repeating

issue with Assistants leaving the company due to the lack of work and thus smaller

compensation than originally planned, while by having more active projects than freelances

onboarded there is an obvious issue in poor quality of the service. Therefore, it is crucial for

a startup of this nature to have both sides of the company grow simultaneously in order to

enable constant and sustainable business growth overall.

1.2 Introduction to Partner Company - Remote Bob

Remote Bob is a dedicated Virtual Assistant startup in business since 2019. The company is

revolutionising how entrepreneurs and other startups are collaborating with Virtual Assistants

worldwide. A Virtual Assistant is usually an independent contractor with a focus on providing

administrative support to customers from a distant location—typically a home office. A Virtual

Assistant may typically handle tasks including making phone calls, booking trips, managing

email accounts, and arranging appointments (Kenton, 2020). The company is currently

building an innovative tech platform that integrates task delivery, chat, time tracking and

other quality assurance methodologies that are enabling entrepreneurs and Virtual

Assistants to kick off their collaboration successfully. The company’s mission is to enable

business owners to instantly find, hire and manage the most intelligent and educated Virtual

Assistants.

The last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have proven that remote work is possible. It

changed the working culture of many companies worldwide. Remote work has been growing

rapidly even before the pandemic, and the trends from the past twelve years show a growth

of 159% in remote work. Those numbers continue to grow as the working environment

keeps changing in the post-Covid world (Sandeep Babu, 2021).

Given the fact that remote work continues to grow and taking into consideration that remote

work is not limited by the country's borders, the target market that can benefit from Remote

Bob’s services is immense. Additionally, with the wide range of experts in various fields who

are working under the brand Remote Bob, the service offer is not restricted to specific

industries. The market that is targeted and that can benefit from VA services is the following

(but not limited to): small business owners, entrepreneurs, solo entrepreneurs, authors,

coaches and consultants, manager and executive level employees that care about saving

personal time, are used to delegating and earn minimum $50,000 a year. The targeted

market is not limited to geographical borders and it can be extended worldwide with the

requirement of a common language for successful communication. Remote work also

enables the company to expand into the world market because it ensures the employment of

the highest quality Virtual Assistants from all over the world. Accordingly, the employment of

Virtual Assistants from around the world also enables the expansion into the world market in

terms of recognition of the services that Remote Bob provides for companies and future

clients.

1.3 Problem Description

A problem in a business is usually defined as a situation that arises when there is a gap

between what is expected and the actual outcomes. It typically does not have a quick fix or

an obvious solution (CMOE, n.d.). There can be a number of problems at once, each

competing for the manager's attention and all interrelated. To manage shifting priorities in an

organisation, it is vital to identify and define the core problems, analyse their causes, and

analyse their effects. In order to successfully manage and survive any potential future

market or industry changes, companies must identify the core problem that affects

sustainable growth in order to avoid becoming too inefficient and suffering high costs.

Organizations often adopt and embed routines that prove to be efficient in their operations

and are considered their best practices (Grant, et al., 2002). Even though the existing

routines might be efficient for the company at a certain time, they don’t necessarily

contribute to long-term sustainable growth; a small company only survives by following

existing practices and when it is hesitant to learn and implement new processes (Beaver,

2003).

As mentioned above, the company examined in this thesis has a specific business model

which requires both sales and employment growth to be in sync in order to keep the quality

of service at the desired level. This means that the number of Assistants/freelancers that are

onboarded is based on the number of current clients, while at the same time the number of

current clients needs to match the number of assistants who are available and properly

trained. The first couple of months of the year 2022 was an excellent example of the

importance of simultaneous growth for such a business model when the company

experienced rapid growth in sales. The number of acquired clients per month doubled based

on the previous year and the employment rate remained the same. However, the fast and

uncontrollable growth in sales which was not properly followed by employment growth led to

poorer service quality and resulted in numerous cancellations made by clients after only a

couple of weeks of service. Even though the fast growth meant major financial success in

the short term, it made the main problem of the company’s business model more obvious

and showed the importance of simultaneous growth in both sales and employment.

1.4 Context Assessment and Findings

To determine a specific growth plan and its implementation, the main findings and overall

context of the research need to be presented. In this section, a framework of the company’s

internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and dangers will be

used while the research process is presented in Chapter 3.

To analyse the key findings of the company’s current situation the SWOT analysis is used.

This tool offers a way to set realistic goals and focus on areas that have the most potential.

An analysis of internal capacity (strengths and weaknesses) helps in determining the project

or organization's current situation, including the resources that are already available and can

be employed right now as well as any ongoing issues. It can aid in determining where

additional tools, abilities, or allies will be required. An analysis of the external environment

(opportunities and threats) typically focuses on events occurring outside of the organization

or areas that have not yet had an impact on the strategy but may in the future, either

favourably or unfavourably (ODI: Think change, 2014).

Figure 1: SWOT Analysis

1.4.1 Analysis of Internal Capacity

In a growing industry and with a growing demand for Virtual Assistants, Remote Bob has a

very clear goal and vision to become the number one global community for Virtual Assistants

providing specialised and knowledgeable Assistants to both small and large businesses, as

well as to become a synonym for excellence within the industry. The team is very receptive

to new ideas and suggestions and is not reluctant to implement new activities in order to

improve the service over the long term. As a result, the company's activities and procedures

are not set in stone. Instead, the vision and goal of the company are present in everyday

decision-making processes. All Remote Bob community members are made aware of this

kind of goal-oriented, upbeat mindset, which is used as a tool to continuously work to

enhance both internal business operations and customer service. One outcome of this is the

quality assurance system the business has in place, which sets it apart from most of its

competitors. While many competitors only concentrate on matching clients with virtual

assistants, Remote Bob's main concern is ensuring quality.

Despite being one of the few virtual assistant businesses with quality assurance in place,

there are still a lot of gaps in management and customer service. There has been a

significant shift in assistants due to the fact that all of them have freelance contracts that do

not require them to work for the company for a certain period of time. As a result, the service

is not standardised, and the assistants frequently switch projects. Additionally, there is a

long-term issue with the lack of managerial expertise and specialised training in

management roles. The management team has so far shown itself to be very proactive,

capable of handling problems as they arise, and able to contribute to the expansion of the

business by successfully implementing changes and adding activities to their departments.

Nevertheless, as the business expands, it becomes apparent that the majority of the team

lacks managerial experience; certain issues are identified too late, some issues recur

frequently, and the management team's experience gaps prevent them from accurately

predicting market trends and putting new initiatives into action accordingly.

1.4.2 Analysis of the External Environment

The virtual assistant industry is still developing, but given the increasing global popularity of

entrepreneurship, it is not surprising that the virtual assistant market is now worth more than

$100 billion. One person can seldom handle everything, so someone must step in to fill the

gaps or at the very least take care of the routine tasks associated with running a firm

(WebTribunal, n.d.). This is the main reason services for Virtual Assistants are very popular

right now and it presents a huge opportunity for the industry. Companies can outsource more

easily, and employees can work from the convenience of their own homes. Through the use

of virtual services, business owners can significantly reduce their operating and maintenance

expenses because they are not obliged to lease office space. Additionally, remote work

generally gives an opportunity for the organisation to create an inclusive workplace due to

the increased emphasis on inclusion, a culture that promotes employees to feel valued for

their distinctive talents and enjoy a sense of belonging. In this approach, the business is able

to provide possibilities for individuals who have particular disabilities that prevent them from

working in a typical workplace.

The number of agency-based and independent Virtual Assistants is constantly rising globally

as the industry expands. The majority of business owners and organizations are looking for

someone who is perfectly located in their nation and has extensive knowledge of their

market and sector. Given that the majority of Remote Bob’s assistants are based in Croatia,

Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, in case of lack of sufficient training and market

knowledge, they may take far longer to deliver results to the client than a locally based

assistant. Also, if instructions are not clearly communicated and the client's expectations are

not sufficiently transparent, the difference in work culture, as well as culture overall, could

also become a problem. Additionally, contracts and recruiting practices may also be a barrier

to long-term sustainable growth. As was already revealed in the study, the organisation now

employs its assistants as independent contractors rather than as direct employees. Given

that the company's long-term goal is to dominate its industry globally, which will require the

employment of an increasing number of assistants from across Europe, the problem of

drafting proper contracts needs to be resolved promptly in order to rely on the assistants, in

the long run, provide them with benefits, and invest in their training and growth, which will

then result in a more standardised service.

1.5 Purpose

Three objectives are served by this project: firstly a study needs to be conducted to identify

the key challenges and problems the company is currently experiencing as it grows. In the

second part of the project, these problems need to be compared to a theoretical framework

in order to develop proper recommendations and solutions intended to solve the company's

current problems and help sustain its growth. The project will conclude with a review of

pertinent theories and reflection on learnings from the project.

1.6 Research Question

A research question is defined as a question that a certain study or a project aims to answer.

This question poses a problem or issue that is resolved by the study's conclusions based on

data analysis and interpretation. Systematic investigations begin with research questions

because documenting accurate research outcomes depends on asking the right questions

(Bouchrika, 2021).

In order to pose the right question, there are several working questions that first need to be

taken into consideration that will help guide the data analysis and interpretation. To better

understand how the company’s current state can potentially affect its business growth, we

begin the analysis by asking: what are the current issues that the company is facing? For

further guidance, we need to address how the literature suggests resolving the issues, and

in the end, we need to know how the company itself can benefit from the findings in this

study.

To fulfil the threefold purpose stated in the sub-section above, a specific research question

was developed: how to grow sustainably?

Chapter 2: Literature Review

In only a couple of years, the company presented in this case study has had major growth in

both sales and employment - it currently has around thirty active projects with approximately

forty Virtual Assistants on hand. However, as a business grows, the structure of the

company changes, as well as tasks, responsibilities and company policies, which directly

affect the employees and indirectly clients.

An overview of existing discussion on business growth will be presented in this chapter, such

as different stages of growth and their indicators, as well as usual problems small

businesses go through in their growth process. This can help evaluate the degree of

uniqueness in the difficulties faced by the company the case study is based on in addition to

giving a basic understanding of what occurs in a growing small business.

To better understand the importance of growth in small businesses and what potential issues

it presents, the key literature used is focused mainly on business growth in small businesses

and stages of growth. Book “The Essential Guide to Managing Small Business Growth” by

Wilson and Bates (2003) was used as the foundation in recognition of key issues in this case

study and the role of growth management in small businesses overall. Additionally, in their

report “Managing for growth: decision making, planning, and making changes” Joyce and

Woods (2003) argue the importance of planning and proper implementation of key steps for

successful growth management. To better understand what are the key elements in different

stages of business growth, the importance of Solymossy’s five stages for business growth is

explained in the following sub-chapters.

The focus of this report, as indicated in the research question in Chapter 1, is not only on

business growth but also on how to sustain business growth in a startup and what are the

essential components in developing and putting into practice growth strategies. The article

also discusses what sustainable growth actually entails and the key business areas that are

essential for it. Furthermore, we must understand what strategic and business planning are

and how to create them properly if we are to achieve long-term change that will develop the

company's vision.

2.1 Business Growth in Early Stages

Decisions in business are becoming more challenging and unpredictable than ever before:

consumers are demanding more, faster and for less. We experience unforeseen and

sometimes catastrophic changes in consumer demand. As these challenges have grown,

the risks associated with expansion, or new strategies, have also risen. Small businesses

often have managers with little experience or formal management training, which can make

them seem incredibly daunting to those without the breadth of experience of a larger

organization (Wilson and Bates, 2003). This poses an issue once the business has been

successfully set up, as the next thing the entrepreneurs and startup owners usually need to

do is to grow the company to properly handle issues linked to scaling. The most challenging

aspect of entrepreneurship is providing the capacity to deal with upcoming issues, such as

partnering strategies and financial planning (Seifert, et al., 2008). As stated in his book

“Entrepreneur and Organization: Symbiotic Change and Transition”, Solymossy emphasises

the “grow or die” imperative that is crucial for a business’s survival. As an organization

grows, it develops in specific stages influenced by both internal and external factors such as

resources, competition, competencies, and the market (Solymossy, 2009). The key insight

we can take from Solymossy’s work is that growth is absolutely needed for survival, but at

the same time changing structures and strategies threaten a company's existence and

stability if growth isn’t properly facilitated.

Wilson and Bates present the advantages of the early stages of a business considering the

relationship with its customers and the high customer retention. Entrepreneurs are usually

aware of their competitors which means that in the first couple of years it is not unusual for

companies to “bend over backwards” for their customers in order to provide them with

exceptional customer service. This can be best seen in the ease that customers have in

reaching out to the main decision-makers - which isn’t the case in large businesses. As the

business grows, these exceptional customer service qualities are becoming more difficult to

maintain which often presents a major barrier in rapid growth (Wilson and Bates, 2003). The

growth process involves a variety of interconnected and dynamic elements, such as

operational processes, decision-making, and information processing. Organisational

transformation is thus required whenever a firm hits a certain milestone or transitions

through a certain stage. (Wilson and Bates, 2003). Having in mind Solymossy’s “grow or die”

imperative in the context that Wilson and Bates present, we can note how the lack of

efficiency and inability to accomplish goals threaten the survival of the company. According

to Solymossy (2009), every crisis presents the company with a life-or-death situation, with

the same warning: adapt, change, evolve, or die. As an organisation expands and develops

from its beginning, it gets more formalized and sophisticated. As new organizational

structures and systems are required, major changes need to be made.

2.1.1 Stages of Business Growth

During the initial stages of operation, the founder entrepreneur is working to commercialize

the offering and establish the company's viability (Solymossy, 2009). In an entrepreneurial

company, the entrepreneur serves as both the leader and the organizational strategy's

executor, as well as the catalyst for new structural arrangements.

As the company's legitimacy is proven, it moves on to the second stage, called survival,

where it expands (Solymossy, 2009). Employees are hired by the company in order to

support this expansion, causing the starting entrepreneur to transition into a supervising

manager. The managing expansion involves more administrative and follow-up work. It

becomes vital to relinquish authority and control while maintaining consistency and effective

communication when the entrepreneur supervises employees' work while continuing to

contribute to the business (Solymossy, 2009).

The third stage, growth, comes next, with increasing complexity, which makes it challenging

for the entrepreneur to oversee everything personally. In contrast to earlier hands-on

management, which required giving up personal control when responsibilities and power

were delegated to others, this calls for more hands-off delegation (Solymossy, 2009). The

entrepreneurs may find this transition challenging because they have invested a lot of

personal time and effort learning about numerous business positions, and now they must

delegate these tasks and maybe compromise the company's procedures (Seifert, et al.,

2008). The delegation process and change in business positions usually make a lot of firms

fail. The inability of a single person to oversee the entire organization indicates a crisis, and

delegation and increased managerial depth are the solutions. The problem that results from

this approach is loss of control.

The importance of and emphasis are placed on implementing and bolstering coordination,

control, and communication systems throughout this fourth stage, expansion (Solymossy,

2009). Many people struggle with managing the work of others and creating the best

administrative and incentive systems for expanding businesses (Seifert, et al., 2008). The

administrative structure of a company determines its operations and decision-making

system. For an entrepreneur, developing this structure is crucial since it supports how

activities are handled and increase their effectiveness and efficiency.

The fifth stage is flexibility. After increased expansion, the next stage is driven by formal

institutions and bureaucracy to achieve control and efficiency. (Solymossy, 2009). Depending

on the business and its surroundings, firms may be structured differently (Seifert, et al.,

2008). When a company has a less structured, open culture, each employee tends to take

on a variety of tasks when the need arises. Within the organization, information frequently

circulates freely and roles and duties are not clearly defined, sometimes to the point that

reasonable behaviour and formality are absent. The chain of command is highly structured in

a highly codified organization, with well-defined jobs and tasks, often at the sacrifice of

adaptability and inventiveness. achieving a balance between these categories which is

crucial. No matter how formalized an organization is, bureaucracy is rigid and reduces its

ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions.

The firm enters the sixth stage, expansion, as a result of the crisis, where revival is

accomplished through networks or collaborations (Solymossy, 2009).

Figure 2: Stages of business growth (Solymossy, 2009)

2.2 Effective and Efficient Growth Management

According to Wilson and Bates (2003) “sustained, profitable growth cannot be achieved

without paying proper attention to the need for greater effectiveness (...) and efficiency (...)”

(Wilson and Bates, 2003). This means that proper systems and activities need to be in place

to enable sustainable business growth, as well as effective and efficient management

(Wilson and Bates, 2003). Managing a company's growth involves careful planning and

execution, as well as using growth mindsets, dynamic work designs, and the scientific

method to integrate several disciplines, such as strategy and design thinking. Growth

strategies are plans that organizations develop for overcoming current and future challenges

and fulfilling growth strategy goals that include increasing market share and revenue,

acquiring assets, and improving the organization's products or services (Gartner, n.d.). The

design thinking process involves understanding users, challenging assumptions, redefining

problems and creating innovative solutions that can be prototyped and tested iteratively (Yu

Siang, 2009). To solve complex problems, strategy and design thinking work well together.

As well as concrete hypotheses to test as solutions, they can craft a purpose, vision, and

guiding principles together (Martin Hacks, n.d.).

When there are teams of people performing diverse tasks, briefing becomes more complex -

one key manager soon finds it impossible to brief, train, monitor, give feedback to, motivate,

and lead an increasing number of new staff. As a result, task and team effectiveness begin

to decline because tried-and-true working methods are disregarded or circumvented. If these

inefficiencies are not addressed early on, quality will soon be compromised, which will lead

to loyal customers leaving. Additionally, existing employees can also spot improvements and

shortcuts in working procedures through informal communication due to their broad

expertise in the workplace, which isn’t the case with new employees. If there aren't enough

safety nets in place, such as feedback, training, mentoring, incentive, and leadership, high

standards of service delivery may suffer as a result of the rapid addition of new personnel

(Wilson and Bates, 2003). In their research, Joyce and Woods (2003) present three main

phases of growth and change management: decision-making, planning and implementation

(Joyce and Woods, 2003). If these phases are fulfiled successfully, the company will adapt to

both internal and external changes and, as a result, grow in sales, profit and employment.

2.3 Sustainable Growth

Sustainable growth is the amount of growth that a business could actually achieve and still

avoid issues. An organization that expands too quickly might struggle to finance the

expansion. A company that expands too slowly or not at all risks becoming stagnant. The

objective is to determine the ideal growth rate. The highest growth rate that a business can

sustain without increasing financial leverage is known as a sustainable growth rate (SGR).

Finding a company's sustainable growth rate essentially provides the answer to the question

of how big the company can get before having to borrow money. SGR aims to maximise

sales and revenue growth without increasing financial risk (Investopedia, 2019).

Different businesses and industries have different ways of communicating the growth

problem. For some, the problem lies in creating and introducing new goods and services to

fulfil the changing demands of their clients. For others, it's crucial to take advantage of global

opportunities. Some businesses look for emerging markets that will offer the next significant

direction for their company while for a selected few businesses, continuing efforts to rebuild

organisational capacities are used in combination with all of these strategic efforts. It doesn't

matter how quickly a company grows; if it doesn't have the resources, personnel, and

infrastructure to manage these changes, it will fail. Therefore, focusing on sustainable

growth is vital for startups (Inc.com, 2018).

2.3.1 How To Sustain Business Growth?

Once the startup is properly set up, one of the biggest challenges that follow is how to grow.

Building a company that is both revenue and bottom-line-focused is increasingly important

as organisations expand (profits). This develops long-term businesses that produce both

value and valuation (Ruparel, 2021). The correct intellectual capital, carefully chosen

strategic partnerships, and goods and/or services with high market demand are necessary

for business growth. Beyond these foundations, long-term growth needs a solid operational

base to lower the risks to the company. A well-defined business model and value proposition

alone do not guarantee sustainable long-term growth. Weak operational infrastructure,

decision-making, and leadership will prevent the company’s sustainable growth (Llopis, n.d.).

Additionally, it is key to keep laser-like attention on the cash flow because it is the founder's

most important dashboard at all times. There is no business without cash, and the pandemic

has clearly demonstrated this: many companies who were unable to secure capital (via debt

or equity) ultimately failed because they lacked the cash necessary to survive. This delicate

balance requires careful planning and strategising.

2.4 Strategic Planning

Making numerous decisions regarding how to extend business operations is necessary for a

growing business. An important step in planning for expansion is developing a strategic plan.

The potential for growth of the company can be maximised by using it to help create a

realistic vision for the future. However, a business plan is not the same as a strategic plan.

Setting short- or mid-term goals and outlining the steps required to accomplish them is the

focus of a business plan. A strategic plan defines the fundamental methods for

accomplishing a company's mid-to-long-term objectives. The goal of strategic planning is to

position the company in the market as effectively as possible (Strategic planning: the basics |

Business Gateway, 2018).

In order to actually select a strategy, choices that explicitly eliminate possibilities and options

must be made. An executive may justifiably worry that making incorrect choices may harm

their career. According to Martin (2014), the instinctive response is to reduce the difficulty of

the challenge by framing it as a problem that can be resolved using tried-and-true methods.

That almost always entails devoting weeks or even months to creating a thorough plan for

how the business will invest in both current and new assets and capabilities in order to meet

a goal—say, a larger market share or a share in a new market. Detailed spreadsheets that

forecast expenditures and income relatively far into the future are often used to support the

plan. However, even though it could be a great approach to manage anxiety about the

unknown, fear and discomfort are crucial components of strategy development. In fact, there

is a considerable possibility that the method isn't particularly effective if the executive feels

completely at ease with it. Making risky decisions and taking chances are the essence of

true strategy. Instead of reducing risk, the goal is to boost the chances of success (Martin,

2014).

According to the author, success is determined by two decisions: where to play (which

particular clients to target) and how to win (how to create a compelling value proposition for

those customers) (Martin, 2014). Strategic planning, cost-based thinking, and self-referential

strategy frameworks are the three primary problems that Martin (2014) lists as the key

causes of poorly developed plans. The author also suggests ways to prevent these issues,

including keeping the strategy statement as clear as possible, acknowledging that strategy is

not about perfection, and making the logic explicit. The business should concentrate its

efforts on the important decisions that affect revenue decision-makers, i.e., customers.

Chapter 3: Methodology

A systematic combining process is used in this study to better understand the case. It's a

process where theoretical frameworks, empirical fieldwork, and case analysis are all

developed simultaneously. It can be described as a nonlinear, path-dependent process of

combining efforts with the ultimate goal of harmonizing theory and reality. The frequent

overlap between data gathering and analysis is one remarkable aspect of how to develop

theory from case studies in general (Dubois and Gadde, 2002).

As reported by Dubois and Gadde (2002), scientific findings can be better understood by

repeatedly alternating between theory and empirical observations. Theoretical knowledge

cannot exist without empirical observation, and vice versa, according to this approach.

Additional interviews should also be conducted and data collected to explore unanticipated

but related problems that are revealed by empirical observations. Consequently, the

theoretical framework may need to be redirected, either by modifying or expanding (Dubois

and Gadde, 2002).

Figure 3: A systematic combining process (Dubois and Gadde, 2002)

The systematic combining process approach was chosen in order to put current problems

that the company is facing into context, to define in which part of the growth process it is

currently and to use both theory and similar examples to be able to define which steps are

the most effective going forward for the company to grow sustainably.

To follow the approach presented by Dubois and Gadde, interviews with top management

(CEO and Founder, and Operations Manager), secondary data analysis, and e-interview with

Virtual Assistants have helped shape the framework in this case.

3.1 Sampling of Interview Partners

The business is formed of an internal (management) team that is in charge of all initiatives

and plans put into action on a daily basis and an external team made up of about forty virtual

assistants. For the purposes of this research, interviews with members of both teams have

been performed because there are two perspectives that are equally vital for sustaining

growth in this particular company model. The CEO, who is also the company's founder, and

the Operations Manager have participated in two online meetings with the other two

members of the higher management. The two members make the majority of the company's

decisions and are in charge of all daily tasks and operations. They oversee department

managers and ensure that all departments are operating in unison. The key argument for

selecting only the two members is that they offer an unbiased viewpoint on all corporate

activities and have the last word over what needs to change and how it should be altered.

Five Virtual Assistants were also subjected to e-interviews to learn more about the

client-facing personnel. In this situation, e-interviews were used in order to save the

Assistants' time while yet allowing them to write freely about their thoughts and experiences.

The five Assistants chosen have been working for Remote Bob for at least six months.

3.2 Research Methods

3.2.1 Interviews

To gather preliminary data, the interview method was used for this case study. The interview

was conducted in the first phase of the work process and it involved a conversation with the

high management roles: CEO and Founder, and Operations Manager. While the other roles

in the Management Team are responsible for their own departments, the CEO and the

Operations Manager are the key decision-makers in the company whose responsibility is to

oversee all the activities - both internal and client-facing. In order to understand the current

situation that the company is in, and to identify current problems, opportunities and potential

threats, a semi-structured interview was conducted. The main purpose of this

semi-structured interview was to have the opportunity to ask follow-up questions and for the

CEO and Operations Manager to state their own opinions, thoughts and expectations. Upon

presenting the growth data, the participants of the interview were asked to clarify and

expand their answers, which was of great service to understanding the company’s current

activities and problems, as well as the vision and goals for the future.

As stated earlier in the report, there are two points of view that always need to be considered

in this case study: business development in general as well as the well-being of Virtual

Assistants. For the purposes of this research, an email interview was conducted as well,

henceforward referred to as the “e-interview”. In the e-interview, the participants were first

asked several questions as a starting point for the brief discussion and a handful of email

exchanges that followed.

Since the employability of new Virtual Assistants depends on the growth in sales and

therefore the number of Assistants keeps changing, an e-interview was conducted with five

Assistants that have been a part of the Remote Bob community for at least six months. In an

e-interview, asynchronous interviews are conducted through a digital medium (MacNeill and

Cavanagh, 2009).

3.2.2 Proprietary Data Analysis

After conducting the semi-structured interview in phase one, additional, concrete data

needed to be gathered which descriptions weren’t presented in a social context. To keep

track of the business development, the company documents all the data that is connected to

sales, marketing, finance, customer service, project management and employment. By

providing internal data such as the performance of marketing campaigns, sales conversion

rates, numbers of hours sold, new clients acquired and the number of freelancers who joined

the community, it was possible to do thorough data analysis. Data analytics aims to answer

questions, identify trends, and extract insights from data (Cote, 2021). For this case study,

the data mentioned above helped to better understand and identify patterns that could

predict future results, consider all possible factors and suggest practical strategies.

3.3 Process Overview

3.3.1 Phase 1: Problem Identification

Prior to the interview process, literature reviews concerning typical challenges faced by

similar companies were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the issues brought up

by interviewees. A primary goal of the first phase was to determine key issues for the

business, current and potential future problems in business growth and what the company's

top management considered the most pressing issues and challenges that the company is

facing. In order to accomplish this, two semi-structured interviews were conducted with key

decision makers at the company; the CEO and Founder and the Operations Manager (see

Appendix A for interview guide). There was a semi-structured approach to the interviews.

The first interview was held online through the video platform Zoom as an introduction to the

current situation of the company. During the interview, the participants presented short-term

and long-term goals for the company, as well as its mission and vision. As a result, a project

plan was developed with a goal, initial working questions and the main research question for

the study, as well as a report of organizational problems within the company. After the first

meeting, all relevant materials and documents were shared in order to conduct data analysis

in phase two of the research process.

Understanding the current actions, the desired outcomes, and the long-term goals of the

company were the main subjects of discussion at the initial meeting. In order to provide

some perspective, the interviewees described the organisation‘s structure, the main duties of

each department, and the number of clients and employees it now has. The primary two

internal databases used by the organisation to track clients and workers were provided. All

existing Virtual Assistants who are either working with clients at this moment or looking for a

client whose needs match their skill set were all listed in the employee database. Each

Assistant's overview included their exact onboarding date as a Remote Bob Assistant, the

projects they have worked on thus far, their current availability, the number of hours they

have worked for clients recently, and their monthly feedback to the HR department. The

client database also included a list of every client from the previous three years, both present

and past. The starting and finishing dates for the service, the number of hours they hired a

virtual assistant for, their requirements, and the cause for their cancellation were the details

that were most crucial to review from the document. The primary topic was the company's

long-term goal and the steps that are planned to attain it after examining the fundamental

facts from these databases. The operations manager explained the strategy for integrating

new technology and how it will help the client as well as the business. Automating

onboarding procedures, making it simpler to choose the precise requirements from a virtual

assistant, and avoiding any misunderstandings are the key goals of technology

implementation. The participants stated the ongoing process of fundraising in order to fully

develop the technology. The management team is currently evaluating the investor

presentation and coming up with new ideas as the fundraising process, which has been

ongoing for the past four months, has been so far unsuccessful.

Following the discussion of the long-term plans, the higher management highlighted the

difficulties the business was currently experiencing, which they believe are having a negative

impact on long-term, sustainable growth. The findings are discussed in the chapter that

follows.

The next step in the first phase was gaining insight from another perspective and gathering

information from Virtual Assistants regarding their work experience, expectations, challenges

and obstacles they are facing. To avoid short and vague answers, and to give the Assistants

the opportunity to freely describe their experiences and opinions, an e-interview was

conducted among five Assistants who have been a part of Remote Bob’s community for at

least six months. The participants were initially asked several questions about their current

role in the company, their experience so far and their expectations for the future (see

Appendix B for the interview guide). The assistants described their responsibilities within the

organisation, what they enjoy about it, the main difficulties they are currently experiencing,

and some suggestions for improvement. The following chapter presents the main

conclusions drawn from their responses.

An extensive literature review was conducted before, during, and after these two steps in

order to develop a framework for analysing the collected data. The objective of the research,

according to Dubois and Gadde (2002), is to confront theory with empirical reality, with

systematic synthesis facilitating more or less continuous confrontation.

3.3.2 Phase 2: Data Analysis

As mentioned previously, additional data and documents were shared by the company in

order to better comprehend the business development of the company to this date. The data

shared will be the foundation for any further activity planning and strategy creation. In the

process of analysing existing data, there are four main methods that were used: descriptive,

diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics.

With descriptive data analytics, trends can be identified from raw data, and what has

happened or is happening can be succinctly described. The goal of descriptive analytics is to

answer the question, “What happened? ” (Cote, 2021). To offer quantitative descriptions in a

format that is manageable, descriptive statistics are used. The purpose of descriptive

statistics is twofold: to provide basic information about variables in a dataset and to highlight

potential relationships between variables (www.researchconnections.org, n.d.).

Diagnostic analytics poses the question “Why did this happen?” (Cote, 2021). Diagnostic

analytics provides a wide range of potential applications, much like descriptive analytics,

which also emphasizes retrospective data. The full range of causes can be revealed by

diagnostic analytics, giving you a complete picture. You can also focus on the elements that

have the most influence. Some of the same methods used in descriptive analytics are also

used in diagnostic analytics, however, drill-down and correlations are used to go further. It is

used to pinpoint the root of company problems and discover suitable fixes to stop them from

happening again in the future (Alvarado, 2021).

In order to predict future trends or events or to provide a response to the question "What

might happen in the future," predictive analytics is applied (Cote, 2021). The use of

predictive analytics allows for the forecasting of potential future situations as well as the

assessment of their chance to occur. It aids businesses in better planning, setting realistic

goals, and minimizing excessive risk. Teams may more correctly predict future performance

by using past performance as well as all the elements that are currently influencing it.

Business teams are empowered to make better decisions more quickly when they can

examine options quickly and iteratively (Alvarado, 2021).

Prescriptive analytics recommends actionable takeaways after considering all potential

aspects of a circumstance. The question "What should we do next?" is answered by it (Cote,

2021). Teams receive instructions from this kind of analytics based on the forecasts

provided. It's the most complicated type, which is why fewer than 3% of businesses use it.

However, randomly found abnormalities don't necessarily indicate lucrative business

potential. Finding truly insightful business insights requires human engagement, at least until

AI technology develops. This involves analyzing data in the context of business operations,

market trends, and company goals and interpreting it (Alvarado, 2021).

3.3.3 Phase 3: Problem and Solution Discussion

The first two phases of the research process helped develop a clear understanding of views

on the company’s main problems from both a higher management’s perspective and Virtual

Assistants’ as well. It was necessary to develop a theoretical framework to assess the

causes and solutions of the problems after they were identified and understood.

In the final phase, another online meeting was organised with the CEO, and Operations

Manager to exchange ideas and hypotheses and to discuss the solutions that would have a

positive impact on sustainable growth going forward, as well as help the company achieve

its goal to become the biggest international community for Virtual Assistants with the highest

quality of service. The final meeting started with presenting key findings based on the

conducted analysis with proposals on how to modify current activities that are pointed out as

the potential cause of the problems. During the discussion, all participants suggested

potential solutions to the problems.

Chapter 4: Findings & Analysis

As seen in the previous chapter, in order to acquire a comprehensive picture of the

company's existing condition and ambitions, preliminary data was evaluated and interviews

were conducted with both key decision-makers and a number of Virtual Assistants. The key

findings will be discussed and presented in this chapter. Given that the goal of this research

is to link empirical findings with theory, the key issues will be discussed from two

perspectives - the company's perspective (including Virtual Assistants) and the researcher's

perspective. The viewpoint of the company includes issues that are more subjective and

connected to first-hand experience and regular business operations in the company. The

viewpoint of the researcher is more unbiased and incorporates conclusions from the

theoretical framework and empirical observation.

4.1 Main Problems From the Company’s Perspective

The initial conversation on the current state of the business was held with the key

decision-makers; CEO and Founder, and Operations Manager. During the discussion, both

of them brought up a number of persistent problems that create a barrier to the service's

improvement and expansion.

4.1.1 Constant Shift in Virtual Assistants

The continual change in Virtual Assistants was the first problem that was brought up. All

Assistants, as was previously indicated in the study, are independent contractors or

freelancers who represent the Remote Bob brand and who have completed the company's

training in administration and remote personal service. Because of this, many assistants

view the position as a temporary one between jobs or as a side gig to boost their income.

According to the analysis of the company's personnel data, the number of Virtual Assistants

has changed significantly over the past year. Of the forty Assistants who are presently

working for clients, only three have been a part of the Remote Bob's community for more

than ten months. This presents a problem for both the company and the clients. With such a

shift of assistants, the business must continually invest in new assistants and their training.

This means that the Human Resources and Project Management departments must

frequently provide basic training for the newcomers instead of developing the skill sets of all

Assistants and creating specialised, trained Assistants, which doesn't really leave a lot of

room and resources for additional education, workshops, and specialised training.

4.1.2 Trouble in contracting a global team

One of the causes of the problem stated in the previous section is the fact that Assistants

are not directly employed by the company, but are freelancers with non-compete

agreements. According to the higher management, this itself poses a challenge. The

company is situated in the UK but seeks to build a global community, thus it is obvious that

hiring Assistants directly would be difficult. Currently, the majority of Assistants must be

self-employed in order to be compensated lawfully. This wouldn't be a big issue if the

company's primary objective were providing matchmaking service between clients and

independent Assistants; however, because the company's main vision is to directly hire

long-term Virtual Assistants, invest in their training and specialisation, and build the largest

global virtual assistant community while also providing clients with quality assurance

procedures, this is currently a significant barrier to sustainable growth.

4.1.3 Uncertainty in the number of working hours

Virtual assistants who were interviewed as well mentioned a problem related to their line of

work. They claim that the major issue is the unpredictability surrounding the number of hours

they will be paid for on a monthly basis. Based on the client's needs, the Assistants' prior

experience, and their skill sets, the company assigns clients to Virtual Assistants. This

means that the Assistants cannot rely on a certain amount of hours they will work and be

paid for in a given month if their skill sets do not match the needs of new clients. According

to the analysis of the company’s data, only five of the forty assistants have long-term

projects that guarantee the number of hours they will work and receive payment for. Other

Assistants are looking for a project that fits their skill set in order to fill their availability.

4.2 Main Problems from Researcher’s Perspective

The results from conducting the interviews and examining the company's data need to be

compared to the theoretical conclusions in order to identify any further problems that might

be preventing sustained growth. The problems that are presented from the researcher’s

perspective were identified by putting the findings in the perspective of what the present

business procedures are and what the primary purpose of the organization is.

4.2.1 Gap in Specific Education and Experience in Management Roles

According to Seifert, once a company is properly set up, scaling-related issues need to be

handled appropriately, and there needs to be enough capacity to handle impending

problems and strategy planning. For this reason, the management team needs to have

enough experience and managerial education in order to be able to handle impending

problems and plans (Seifert, et al., 2008). Only two of the management team's seven

members of Remote Bob had previous managerial expertise. This has several advantages,

including the ability to come up with original ideas, think outside the box, be more proactive,

and be more willing to learn and grow, according to information gained through conducted

interviews. But as the company expands, it becomes more important to prepare thoroughly

and be able to foresee potential future problems or changes in the market, as well as identify

current trends for particular departments and sectors of the business and guide the team on

how to follow these trends. The management team of Remote Bob is still heavily involved in

day-to-day operations and customer communications at this point in the company's

development, which leaves little time for developing new business strategies and organising

their implementation.

4.2.2 Services are Not Tailored for a Specific Market

Virtual assistance is a developing industry that involves a wide range of tasks that may all be

completed remotely (F, 2022). Currently, the company is offering a variety of services such

as administrative support, social media management, content creation, creating brand

awareness, bookkeeping, graphic design and personal assistance. The services are

intended for both small and large businesses, startups, solopreneurs, and business owners

in general who make at least $50,000 per year in any industry. Virtual Assistants in the

company all come from different backgrounds and with different experiences. During a

one-week training period, each of them learns about the most typical administrative and

personal assistant responsibilities for clients that are not specialised to a particular type of

client or business. In order to effectively complete all responsibilities and be able to continue

adding value to the client after being onboarded to a project, the Assistant will need to spend

more time in the initial few weeks of working with the client learning about the industry and

its current trends. The client and the company both spend more resources when using

assistants who are not industry specialists. Clients frequently lose trust early in the process if

the Assistant doesn't live up to their expectations regarding how long it takes them to

comprehend the fundamentals of the industry and their organisation.

Even though the current offer might be a good way to start building brand awareness and

reaching out to a more diverse clientele, in the long run, it should be more beneficial to

concentrate on a particular industry in order to train specialised Virtual Assistants who are

knowledgeable about the industry and can add value to the client's business.

4.2.3 Lack of Stable Cash Flow and a Major Shift in Clients

A company needs a steady cash flow to be able to compensate employees for their work

and make a profit from their services in order to sustain growth. In Remote Bob, there is a

frequent change in both the staff and the clientele. As was already indicated in the study, the

company grew quickly during the first few months of 2022 while the employment rate stayed

unchanged. Since many of the Assistants were not properly trained, the uncontrollable and

improperly monitored growth ultimately resulted in poorer service. Due to unmet criteria or

clients realising they don't have the time to delegate tasks effectively, the company lost 45%

of its clients in 2022. The company wants to provide clients with long-term Assistants who

can add value to their businesses, but research shows that most clients end their contracts

after a few months because they lack the resources, the service didn't live up to their

expectations, or they don't see the long-term benefits.

It was rather challenging to summarise the data and obtain the necessary information about

how the firm evolved over the previous three years during the analysis of the data that was

provided. As mentioned earlier in the report, the company keeps track of all past and present

clients and employees. However, the data is not very well organised and presented, and it

only includes a list of clients and employees with onboarding and cancellation dates. Also, it

does not show the number of new clients and employees that are gained or lost each month,

which would provide a detailed idea of whether both areas of the business are in harmony or

if there is a need for further analysis. As a result, it is difficult to formulate long-term forecasts

as there are no identifiable trends in sales and employment.

4.3 Analysis

By following Solymossy’s five stages of business growth, we can see that Remote Bob is

currently situated in the fourth stage - expansion. The company had significant growth over

the last year, which caused both the number of clients and staff to double in comparison to

the same period the year prior, according to a review of the company's data. It is impossible

for an entrepreneur to oversee all business activities in a company, so there are now

demands for hands-off management, restructuring and creating systems to improve

effectiveness and efficiency (Solymossy, 2009).

To measure the impact of current business actions on service quality and long-term

development, five key areas of the company must be investigated. A mindmap of cause and

effect relationships related to unsustainable growth was made in order to better comprehend

the impacts that present activities and business choices across the company's key segments

have on long-term growth.

Figure 4: Mindmap of cause and effect relationships related to unsustainable growth

The mindmap shows the five key aspects of the business: the internal team (management),

the external team (Virtual Assistants), the administrative procedures, the client services, and

the client requirements. The key decision-making body, which is the management team

plays a great role in the restructuring of the company and implementing new strategies that

are focused on sustaining growth and assuring quality. At this point, the team demonstrated

that it was proactive, capable of dealing with problems as they occurred, and on top of

regular tasks. However, by participating in routine tasks and activities, the team becomes

inert and loses sight of long-term solutions. Restructuring is necessary at this point, which

entails making changes in advance, coming up with new strategic plans, and anticipating

potential problems rather than addressing them as they arise. In order to maintain service

quality as the company's sales increase and to ensure that the services are client-specific, it

is necessary to create more departments as part of the restructuring process. Due to the

lack of a research and development department, the company is unable to consistently keep

up with new market trends and business opportunities. As previously mentioned in the

report, the market that the company is able to target is immense. The business is missing

out on a number of opportunities that could assist in developing a more tailored service for

the clients due to a lack of understanding of industry trends. Currently, marketing, sales,

small and medium-sized firms, and professional writers are the industries that employ virtual

assistants most frequently (F, 2022). Many competitors are now at the top of the list when

specific businesses are looking for Virtual Assistants who are specialised in their line of work

since the competitor companies recognised the demand for Assistants in particular

industries and developed industry-specific services to better meet the needs of the clients.

Contrarily, Remote Bob lacks services tailored to particular industries or types of businesses,

which causes many clients to cancel their contracts after a few months due to a lack of

industry knowledge and a lack of added value from the Assistant.

Since many of the company's Assistants have experience working as either personal

assistants or executive assistants, they are more likely to complete jobs successfully for

customers and come up with proactive ways to support them. However, there are also many

Assistants who have no prior expertise with or knowledge of the field or the position.

Because of this, many clients, whose main objective is typically to outsource all tedious

chores they don't want to spend time on, end up spending a lot of time correcting the

Assistant's errors and supervising their tasks. The company does offer new Assistants

training where they can learn about the tasks that are most often undertaken in the industry,

but it doesn't give them any first-hand experience, so it often takes them longer than

expected to adjust and learn when they begin working for a client. The positive side of

providing inexperienced Assistants with an opportunity in the company is giving them the

possibility to learn and grow and gain experience. But, many Assistants end up leaving the

company as they realise the role is not suited for them. Another common reason for

Assistants leaving the company is because they have found a more secure job and have

considered their role in Remore Bob as only temporary. This creates a significant problem

for both the client and the business; the client must change Assistants and start developing

the working dynamic from scratch, and the business must continually onboard new

Assistants and invest more time and resources in training and onboarding than was

originally anticipated. The contract type is another factor contributing to the frequent turnover

of assistants. Many assistants leave Remote Bob in search of more stable employment as a

result of the freelance contracts. Since the long-term objective is to establish a worldwide

network of knowledgeable virtual assistants, it is essential for the business to make

modifications to its administrative procedures to prevent frequent changes in assistants.

There is a significant gap in the way of contracting as it requires Assistants to have their own

registered business in order to be compensated legally for their working hours.

The gaps and problems mentioned above could result in project cancellations due to unmet

requirements and needs, thereby hindering the company's ability to sustain growth through

stable cash flow.

Chapter 5: Discussion

Finding and understanding the underlying problem is an important step in any

problem-solving process. After the problem identification stage, a variety of potential

solutions may be put forth, and maybe the most crucial thing the business can do is to

continually increase its expertise and start actively recognising opportunities on the market.

Throughout the research process, there was an issue that kept coming up: how to accurately

estimate whether the company is prepared for rapid growth and in which areas.

The idea of readiness can be viewed as both a state and a process. In this particular

scenario, readiness can be defined as the point at which it becomes apparent that the

company is prepared to implement a particular change in order to benefit the business in the

long run. This implies that the company has met its intended key performance indicators and

generated enough revenue to fund change management. Additionally, if we think about

readiness as a process, it can be viewed as the method of managing any business change

by ensuring that management teams and staff members can transition from one attitude or

environment to another effectively and safely.

In this case study, readiness should be understood as the practice of anticipating

prospective issues and internal and external changes that may have an impact on cash flow

and sustaining growth. The organisation will be able to respond to unforeseen problems

when they arise and have viable solutions prepared thanks to the preparation process. We

can use market research as an example in this specific case. Market trends are

ever-evolving, so it's important to have a solid understanding of them in order to predict

potential future trends and be prepared with precise business solutions as they emerge.

Chapter 6: Management Recommendations and Implementation Guidance

As was discussed in the previous chapter, there are a lot of areas and processes that need

to be improved in order to ensure service quality, lower the rate of service cancellations, and

keep a steady cash flow. Sales of the services, however, are the primary area where growth

is anticipated. By closing more sales, the company will have more money to invest in internal

training for the Assistants, raising the level of service. But, sales growth needs to happen at

a slower pace in order to make sure that other key areas of business are properly prepared.

Additionally, a new department responsible for monitoring market trends and spotting new

opportunities may also be added with increased resources. Although it would be financially

successful in the short term, a rapid and extreme increase in sales would only cause

problems in the long run for the company, which is now undergoing structural changes. The

expansion of employment and the hiring of additional personnel must follow the growth in

sales on an equal level. This is crucial mainly because with the consistent and constant

growth it would be easier to foresee when additional Assistants are expected and to offer

them more extensive training in order to avoid any decrease in the level of the service.

However, it is essential for the company to make improvements in a number of different

areas in order to be able to boost service sales and reduce the likelihood that these services

will be cancelled after a short period of time.

6.1 Recommendations For Improvements

To have a positive impact on maintaining business growth and assuring high service quality,

improvements can be made in a number of areas such as creating industry-specific services,

providing additional training/consulting for the management team and creating benefits for

members of the Remote Bob community.

It would be beneficial to claim a niche and select a particular industry that the company

would be targeting given the wide range of duties that Virtual Assistants are capable of

performing in general. Because the existing market is so broad, there isn't much opportunity

for services that are specifically tailored for individual customers because Virtual Assistants

aren't trained in these areas and can't always provide the client with additional value. The

company has the chance to develop Virtual Assistants with deep industry expertise who will

be able to recommend proactive future activities based on current trends in the industry

rather than just carrying out mundane daily tasks by claiming a niche or concentrating on a

certain industry.

The members who don't have previous leadership experience would benefit from additional

training tailored specifically for their departments during the current period of restructuring

the company to meet the long-term goals. This would make it simpler for them to identify

potential problems before they arise, to understand current market trends, and to know what

additional activities need to be implemented and how. In this way, department heads may

actively concentrate on developing future initiatives and changes that will help the business

over the long term while delegating everyday tasks to their team members and actively

monitoring their progress.

In order for Virtual Assistants to feel the value of and see opportunities in being a member of

the Remote Bob community, additional benefits for the employees must be incorporated into

the company as there is an evident barrier to developing contracts for Virtual Assistants. The

majority of the Virtual Assistants who participated in the research felt that the main point of

improvement should be the uncertain amount of working hours every month. The business

should hire assistants who are available full-time and give them the same training program

for a specific industry. As a result, (ideally) every Assistant would be able to fulfil the needs

for all upcoming projects, better manage their availability, and earn a consistent monthly

salary.

Chapter 7: Conclusions and Outlook

This case study has three separate objectives; it firstly describes a variety of issues that the

company is facing at the moment that has a direct or indirect impact on sustainable growth.

Then it presents the theoretical framework connected to the research question. In order to

define proper suggestions on how to resolve these issues, the key terms have been

presented. Lastly, suggestions on overcoming the main issues have been presented as to

how to implement change in certain areas.

How to maintain growth in this startup is the research question that is brought out in this

paper. Due to the nature of the service, it is necessary for this business, which has a specific

business model, for both growths in sales and employment to be carefully managed and

coordinated. Only with competent management, effective operations, steady cash flow, and

a strong operational foundation can this be accomplished. In order for that to happen, a

number of additional issues must first be addressed in order to deliver a high-quality service,

prevent the client or assistant turnover, and maintain growth.. According to the literature, a

startup must be able to follow the "adapt or die" approach in order to be able to adapt to the

constantly shifting environment and market trends. In order for Remote Bob to be

acknowledged as the greatest company for remote assistance within the industry, it is crucial

to take advantage of the growing need for business outsourcing, virtual assistants, and

remote work environments. As a result, the service will be better suited to the needs and

requirements of the clients, the Assistants will be specialised for particular industries and

bring value to the client, and the company will have fewer cancellations and the stable cash

flow needed for sustained growth.

Appendix A: Interview Guide

The interview questions from the first stage of the problem discovery process are provided

below. The final guide question, which addressed the problems the interviewees noticed and

experienced at the company, was the main emphasis of the interviews. To encourage a

free-flowing conversation on the subject, the question was purposefully left open. The prior

questions helped establish an understanding of the business and its operations, placing the

challenges that were presented in a context and laying the groundwork for upcoming

interviews.

Company’s structure - What are the main responsibilities of each role in the company?

- How many employees does the company have?

- How did the company’s structure change over the three-year span?

Current situation of the company - How many clients does the company currently have?

- Was there a growth in clients based on the previous year?

- What are the most common services that are required from the clients?

- What are the current problems that the company is facing?

Company’s long-term goals - What is the company’s main vision?

- What is the company’s mission?

- What is the final goal?

- What activities have been implemented so far in order to meet these goals?

Services - What does the training for Virtual Assistants entail?

- What are the mail skillsets and experiences of Virtual Assistants?

- What is the company’s target market?

- What does the onboarding process look like?

- How are changes on the project communicated to the client?

Clients - What is the most common role among current and past clients?

- What does the quality assurance process look like?

- What is the most common reason for cancelling the services?

Appendix B: E-interview Guide

The interview questions from phase two of the problem identification process

are included in this appendix. The interviewees had the opportunity to provide

in-depth responses even though the questions were part of an e-interview,

which meant they had to be followed more strictly.

1. How long have you been in the company?

2. What is your current role in the company?

3. How many clients do you currently work for?

4. What are some of the positive aspects of working as a freelance Virtual

Assistant?

5. What are the main issues you are currently experiencing or have

experienced in the past?

6. What are your suggestions for improving the quality of service?

7. What are your suggestions for improving the role of Virtual Assistants?

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