What happens when a small business is no longer a small business? What happens when a company with 5 employees, scales and needs to hire 50 employees and serve thousands of customers. What about that startup, that knows they’re destined to be much larger, what do they need to do know?
Sandy Edwards, who leads Intuit’s mid-market product growth shared her insights on this with Ramon Ray, publisher of ZoneofGenius.com at Intuit Connect.
Listen to our interview here and sign up to the Rundown with Ramon podcast
In a recent article in Business Insider, new social app and Threads and Twitter/X competitor, Bluesky COO shared this precise challenge. Since their user space has skyrocketed, they’re struggling to get servers and more in place. Scaling and getting to the “next level” is the biggest challenges in going from “small business” to “mid-sized business”
Key Points:
- Intuit Enterprise Suite targets businesses experiencing rapid growth and increasing complexity
- Mid-market businesses face unique challenges transitioning from small business to enterprise solutions
- The solution offers multi-entity accounting, consolidated reporting, and AI-powered business intelligence
- Mid-market companies have different organizational structures, including C-suite leadership
- Integrated payroll and merchant services are crucial components for mid-market success
The Evolution of Mid-Market Business Needs
When small businesses experience rapid growth, they often find themselves in a challenging position – too big for their current solutions but not quite ready for expensive enterprise systems. This is exactly the space where Sandy Edwards, Mid-Market Product Leader, Intuit, and her team are focusing their efforts with the Intuit Enterprise Suite and QuickBooks Online Advanced.
During my interview with Sandy at Intuit Connect, she shared insights about how businesses evolve and the unique challenges they face during rapid growth periods. “What we see often is that’s the point that they need to scale quickly,” Sandy explained, noting that many companies get oversold on expensive ERP solutions they’re not ready for, creating a significant void in the market.
What we see often is that’s the point that they need to scale quickly
Beyond Small Business: Understanding the Mid-Market Mindset
One of the most interesting aspects of our conversation was exploring how mid-market business leadership differs from small business ownership.
Sandy highlighted a crucial distinction: these aren’t single-owner operations anymore. Instead, they have full C-suites with CEOs, COOs, and CFOs, each bringing their own perspectives and needs to the table.
The mindset shift is significant. While small businesses often focus on day-to-day cash flow and making ends meet, mid-market companies are more concerned with optimization and strategic growth. As Sandy put it, “You break over that point when then you start looking at optimizing your profit. How do I invest? Where do I invest? How do I make a capital investment in this product line?”
The Power of AI and Business Intelligence
In the mid-market space, artificial intelligence isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a core component of business operations. Sandy described their approach as “AI native,” meaning the technology is built into the foundation of their workflows rather than being layered on top as an afterthought.
The focus is particularly strong on business intelligence, which Sandy colorfully described as “the cherry on top of the cake.” This combination of advanced accounting functionality, multi-user capabilities, and AI-powered insights helps businesses answer crucial questions about profitability and forecasting without extensive data manipulation.
The Human Capital Challenge
One of the most pressing concerns for mid-market businesses is managing human capital. Sandy, drawing from her 15 years of experience with online payroll, emphasized how the landscape has changed dramatically since COVID-19, particularly with the rise of remote hiring.
Intuit’s solution includes QuickBooks Online Payroll Elite, which integrates seamlessly with their Enterprise Suite. The system handles everything from basic payroll to time tracking and benefits management – crucial tools for attracting and retaining top talent in today’s competitive market.
Financial Services Integration
A unique aspect of Intuit’s mid-market offering is the integration of merchant services directly into the platform. Sandy explained that this integration not only streamlines payment processing but also offers competitive rates and preferred onboarding for mid-market clients. The addition of Bill Pay Elite further automates accounts receivable and payable processes, helping businesses improve both efficiency and their bottom line.
Looking Ahead
Intuit’s vision for the mid-market space is comprehensive and forward-thinking. Sandy and her team are actively learning from accounting partners to refine their offerings and ensure they’re meeting the complex needs of growing businesses.
The mid-market space represents a crucial transition point for growing companies, and Intuit’s approach – combining sophisticated tools with practical solutions – seems well-positioned to support businesses through this challenging but exciting phase of growth.
For business owners finding themselves at this crucial juncture between small business and enterprise solutions, Intuit’s mid-market offerings provide a thoughtful middle ground that acknowledges both their current needs and future growth potential. As Sandy pointed out throughout our conversation, it’s about providing the right tools at the right time to support sustainable growth and success.
I’ll rewrite this with more detailed narrative content under each header, focusing on storytelling and real-world context.
Moving from Small Business to a Mid-Market Business
Build a Strong Leadership Infrastructure
The journey from small business to mid-market success often begins with a pivotal realization: the founder can no longer wear all the hats.
As Sandy Edwards pointed out in our conversation, this transition requires a fundamental shift in how the business operates. Gone are the days when a single entrepreneur could manage every aspect of the operation from their smartphone.
This transition can be described as “learning to let go.” You’ll be overwhelmed and become the bottleneck to your own growth.
The solution?
Building a proper C-suite. A CFO who has worked with larger companies, so the business can have sophisticated financial controls necessary for future growth.
A COO to transform operations from “organized chaos” to streamlined efficiency.
This evolution in leadership structure isn’t just about adding executives – it’s about creating a new organizational DNA that can support sustainable growth.
Successful mid-market businesses need clear reporting structures, professional management systems, and most importantly, a leadership team that can think strategically while managing day-to-day operations.
Invest in Scalable Systems
The technology that served your business well at $1 million in revenue likely won’t cut it at $10 million or $50 million. This reality hits many growing businesses hard, often at the worst possible moment.
As Sandy Edwards noted in our interview, many businesses make the mistake of either sticking with small business solutions too long or jumping to enterprise solutions they’re not ready for.
Consider the story of a manufacturing company that tried to manage multiple entities and locations using basic accounting software and spreadsheets. As they approached $20 million in revenue, their finance team was spending countless hours manually consolidating reports and reconciling intercompany transactions. The breaking point came during an important investor meeting when they couldn’t quickly answer basic questions about profitability by product line.
The solution wasn’t just buying new software – it was rethinking their entire approach to technology. They needed systems that could handle multi-entity operations, provide consolidated reporting, and offer sophisticated profit analysis tools. Most importantly, they needed technology that could scale with their growth without requiring another major overhaul in a few years.
Optimize Human Capital Management
The shift from small business to mid-market brings a dramatic change in how companies must think about their people. During my conversation with Sandy Edwards, she emphasized how the post-COVID landscape has transformed this challenge even further. “Hiring and understanding the top talent is in that top 10 mostly and often in the top five,” she noted, highlighting the critical nature of this transition.
Here’s a metaphor to consider, let’s say we spoke with a technology services company founder who described their human capital evolution as “going from family to framework.” In their early days, they hired based on gut feel and managed through personal relationships. But as they crossed the 50-employee mark, this approach began to break down. They needed structured hiring processes, clear performance metrics, and professional development paths.
The company invested in a comprehensive HR infrastructure, including competitive benefits packages and formal career development programs. The result? Employee retention improved by 40%, and they were able to attract senior talent from larger competitors. Most importantly, they maintained their strong culture while adding the structure needed for sustained growth.
Focus on Profitability Analysis
In the small business world, success often boils down to whether there’s enough money in the bank to pay the bills. But mid-market success requires a more sophisticated approach to financial analysis. As Sandy Edwards pointed out in our interview, “You break over that point when then you start looking at optimizing your profit. How do I invest? Where do I invest? How do I make a capital investment in this product line?”
A distribution company’s journey, another metaphor, illustrates this evolution perfectly. For years, they focused solely on top-line revenue growth, celebrating each new customer win. However, when they began implementing sophisticated profitability analysis, they discovered that some of their largest customers were actually their least profitable. Their highest-volume product line was barely breaking even when all costs were properly allocated.
This revelation led to a complete strategic reset. They developed detailed profitability metrics for each product line, customer segment, and geographic region. They invested in AI-powered analytics to identify trends and opportunities. Most importantly, they started making data-driven decisions about where to invest their resources for maximum return.
Strengthen Financial Operations
The financial sophistication required for mid-market success goes far beyond basic bookkeeping. During our interview, Sandy Edwards emphasized how Intuit’s Enterprise Suite addresses this need through advanced financial capabilities and integrated merchant services. This evolution in financial operations can make or break a growing business.
Consider the case of a successful service company, for example only, that nearly derailed its growth because of inadequate financial infrastructure. While they had grown to $30 million in revenue, they were still managing cash flow reactively, had no formal forecasting process, and lacked strategic financial planning. When a major growth opportunity arose, they couldn’t move quickly enough because their financial systems weren’t sophisticated enough to support rapid decision-making.
Their transformation involved implementing advanced forecasting tools, developing sophisticated working capital management strategies, and creating a strategic financial planning process. They established relationships with multiple banking partners and created a capital structure that could support their growth plans. Most importantly, they built the financial infrastructure before they desperately needed it.
Establish Professional Partnerships
The transition to mid-market success rarely happens in isolation. As Sandy Edwards noted in our discussion, professional partnerships become increasingly critical as businesses scale. This includes not just accountants and lawyers, but strategic partners who can help accelerate growth.
Another example, which serves as an illustration, comes from a specialty food manufacturer who realized their growth was constrained by their go-it-alone mentality. They had built everything in-house, from their distribution network to their IT systems. The breakthrough came when they started developing strategic partnerships: a distribution alliance that opened up new markets, a co-manufacturing partnership that increased capacity without major capital investment, and a technology partnership that accelerated their digital transformation.
The key was approaching these partnerships strategically rather than transactionally. They weren’t just looking for vendors; they were building relationships that could scale with their growth and create mutual value.
Create Data-Driven Culture
In our interview, Sandy Edwards emphasized how AI and business intelligence have become “native” to modern mid-market operations. This represents a fundamental shift from the intuition-driven decision-making common in small businesses to a more sophisticated, data-driven approach.
Imagine a retail chain whose founder had built the business on incredible customer insight and instinct. But as they expanded beyond their original market, they found that gut feel wasn’t scaling. They needed data to understand different market dynamics, customer preferences, and operational performance.
The solution wasn’t just implementing analytics tools – it was creating a culture where data drove decisions. They built dashboards that gave managers real-time insight into performance, implemented predictive analytics for inventory management, and used customer data to personalize marketing. Most importantly, they trained their team to ask “what does the data tell us?” before making major decisions.
Embrace Strategic Innovation
The final piece of the mid-market success puzzle is maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit that drove initial success while adding the structure needed to scale. This balance between innovation and execution becomes increasingly critical as businesses grow.
A software company’s journey exemplifies this challenge. As they grew, they found their innovation slowing – buried under processes and procedures. Their solution was creating a dedicated innovation team while implementing structured processes for the core business. They established an “innovation fund” for new ideas and created clear pathways to move successful innovations into the main business.
The key was maintaining the entrepreneurial mindset that drove their initial success while adding the structure needed to scale effectively. As Sandy Edwards noted in our conversation, successful mid-market businesses need both strategic vision and operational excellence.
This comprehensive approach to scaling – from leadership to operations, from people to partnerships – creates the foundation for sustainable growth. The transition from small business to mid-market success isn’t just about getting bigger; it’s about building the infrastructure, capabilities, and mindset needed to operate at a higher level.
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