Growth Lessons from Crocs CEO John McCarvel

Congratulations to John McCarvel for helping Crocs survive the worst of the recession and point the iconic company clearly toward growth, as Entrepreneur reported in Crocs:  From Footwear Fad to Billion-Dollar Company. 

I see three key efforts for Crocs' survival and growth:

1. Ramped up innovation
2. Forged line-of-sight to inventory
3. Gained market and opportunity balance

Crocs CEO John McCarvel (image credit)

Innovation

If you have the basic elements of a light bulb, you can make so many things that people want:  for example, table lamps, car headlights, and storefront signs.  The same with Crocs: They had a trademarked Croslite resin material, which, by dint of the recession, prompted them to push, not pull back, innovative product development.

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Inventory

Prior to the recession, Crocs painted itself into a corner by basing production to forecasts, without a clear grip on supply-and-demand. Today the company works only with select mid-tier shoe retailers, while selling from its own retail outlets and e-commerce sites. Now it was a clearer line-of-sight on inventory.

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Balance

Crocs had its biggest market in the US, and this was hardest hit by the recession. Asia and Europe kept going, by contrast. The company contained the losses, and forged better balance in their markets: The US now accounting for less than a third of their sales.

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