Hello

At Sagesse Abundance, our founders and senior consultants have spent decades advising enterprises across the public sector, private sector, and multinationals in India, North America, and Europe. In recent years we have focused exclusively on strategy, technology, and management consulting for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Having worked with hundreds of companies — from century-old giants like IBM and GE to promising startups — we asked a simple question:

Why do some companies survive and thrive across generations, while most SMEs never scale, and even those that do rarely last beyond one generation?

Here are the 10 critical differences we’ve observed:

1. Constancy of Purpose Enduring companies exist to solve big problems for humanity and make money as a byproduct. Their core purpose never changes, even as they reinvent themselves. Most SMEs, however, are built purely to “make money.” When profit is the only purpose, the company drifts the moment conditions change — and eventually disappears.

2. Getting the Right People First Jim Collins was right: great companies obsess over “Who before What.” They hire against clearly defined competencies and leadership traits. Most SMEs hire friends, ex-colleagues, or whoever is available. We’ve seen HR Directors reduced to clerical roles and “loyal” employees kept for decades despite obvious incompetence — predictably leading to high turnover and mediocrity.

3. Leaders Who Transform vs Leaders Who Police In great companies, robust systems catch non-compliance automatically. Leaders focus on transformation and bringing people along. In too many SMEs, systems exist only on paper, and middle managers become full-time policemen producing meaningless reports that founders love because someone finally gave them numbers — however flawed.

4. Thought Leadership vs “Matchstick” Leadership (A term coined by our Chief Consultant) Matchstick leaders have a head but no brain — the moment friction appears, they ignite without data, facts, or reflection. Great companies institutionalize rigorous, data-backed decision making. SME leaders often decide first and then cherry-pick data to justify the decision.

5. Threadbare Analysis vs Aggregate-Level Management Century-old companies know exactly which activities make money and which destroy it — down to the last rupee. Many SMEs manage only top-line revenue, assuming profit will follow. One delivery head we worked with admitted: “We scaled revenue aggressively for years and only later realized we were scaling losses.”

6. Quality Systems as a Way of Life ISO, CMMI, Lean Six Sigma, and TQM are not certificates on the wall in enduring companies — they are daily habits. Most SMEs see quality systems as “bureaucracy” and proudly declare, “We just do it.” The result? Perpetual firefighting, hero culture, and zero visibility of project profitability.

7. Immunity to Their Own Marketing Some SMEs win a few local awards or partner trophies and immediately believe the hype. Complacency sets in; they stop selling. Great companies give more awards than they receive — because they never stop earning the business.

8. Deep Respect for Market Realities (Zero Greed) We watched one Indian software company lose a marquee Silicon Valley client forever because the founders quoted an obscene maintenance fee after successful delivery — pure greed. Enduring companies know when to say “No bid” or even exit a market if the economics don’t work long-term.

9. Giving Strategy and People Time to Work Great companies build processes so robust that even newcomers deliver quickly. They give strategic initiatives 2–5 years, not 6 months. Far too many SME founders change strategy every quarter and fire new sales team before they’ve even learned the product.

10. Founders in for Commitment, Not Exit The blunt truth: many SME founders are transient visitors looking for a quick flip. Enduring companies are built by founders (and successor leaders) who are in it for life. They develop leadership pipelines that survive wars, depressions, and tech revolutions. Most SME founders have one eye on the exit door from day one.

If you run an SME and recognize even a few of these patterns, the good news is they can all be fixed.

We help ambitious founders build companies that don’t just grow — but last.

ant to know where your company stands and what to fix first? Drop us a note at hello@sagesse.in for a no-strings diagnostic conversation.