Gazelles
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“Gazelle” is the name given to any small/medium sized enterprise that exhibits high growth – and which is constantly creating new job-opportunities and contributing positively to the economy.
Generally, “high growth” means a factor of at least 3x the average growth rate of SMEs.
Moreover, to achieve high growth and sustain competitive advantage, “gazelle” SMEs are found to demonstrate a focus on differentiation.
That is, a strategic approach underpinned by strong innovative ability.
Why the term “gazelle”?
In the wild, when threatened by a predator , real gazelles exhibit a tendency not to run immediately – they “stot”, jumping on the spot, or even staggering slightly, until the threat is nearly upon them.
But when they do eventually take off, they do so at very high speed - running and leaping to rapidly outdistance the threat.
In fact, gazelles are the 2nd fastest animal on land – only the cheetah can run faster. But fortunately for the gazelle, the cheetah doesn’t have quite so much stamina, and tires much faster.
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Similarly for SMEs, you don’t have to immediately exhibit high growth. It can take a few years for an SME to enjoy gazelle characteristics.
Invariably and vitally, however, it has been found that the key factor for acceleration of growth and profitability to occur,
is access to additional capital resource – so as to finance technological advancements and new partnerships.
In short, investing in collaborative innovation means:
- for the enterprise : high growth in sales and profitability
- growth in employment and in export market share
- for the economy : a high net positive overall impact.
