Growing an Established Business
Accelerate Your Success. Gain the Next Level.
Program Overview
Growing an Established Business is the next step for entrepreneurs who are ready to expand. As a follow-up to the strong foundation from Building a Successful Business, this program helps experienced business owners and their senior team members explore new paths to growth—including strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and exit strategies.
The week-long program on the Dartmouth College campus gives business owners and their key executives the vital frameworks and skills needed to expand their scale, overcoming the challenges and obstacles that business owners often see after several years in business. It is an ideal program for any business owner at a crucial crossroads in their business journey.
Growing an Established Business covers high-impact topics such as strategy design and execution, business valuation, and alternative sources of capital. Each session is geared toward helping you build the insights and financial strength for lasting growth.
Program Benefits
- Sessions are geared toward real-world application and immediate impact. Participants leave with the confidence to drive strategy and frameworks that they can carry with them throughout their lives.
- Intimate cohort sizes ensure opportunities for building meaningful connections with peers and faculty.
- Participants spend time working on the business instead of in the business, allowing them to make strategic plans without the pressures of daily life.
- For participants that join with their business partners or key direct reports, Tuck Executive Education programs create a common language and shared framework to help tackle challenges and drive action.
Sponsorships
The full price of a one-week Tuck Executive Education program is $14,000. For the Tuck Advancing Entrepreneurship Programs, more than half of this cost is charitably underwritten by Tuck. To cover the rest of the fee ($7,000), many participants receive sponsorships from the corporations that they supply or the non-profits through which they are certified. Learn more about approaching potential sponsors or obtaining a scholarship on our Sponsorships page.
Who Should Attend
For owners of established businesses ready to accelerate their growth.
Growing an Established Business is designed for experienced business owners and key decision-makers who are at a turning point in their business journey or committed to scaling to the next level. The program is for those who seek to:
- Explore alternatives for dramatic growth and scale
- Plan to build a legacy of success
- Seek to join a supportive and engaged network of entrepreneurs
This program is tailored to meet the needs of small business owners and we encourage the participation from entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities who traditionally have not had access to executive programming or executive training. Eligible participants should have:
- At least five years of business ownership experience
- Annual revenue of $500,000 or more
- Completion of the Building a Successful Business program
Those who have not attended the Building a Successful Business program may qualify for an exemption based on comparable experience and education. For questions regarding eligibility or guidance on selecting the appropriate program please contact us.
Cohorts by the Numbers
Participant Stories Read More Alumni Stories
Attending Growing an Established Business program at Tuck was truly transformational. It pushed me to think bigger, not just about scaling—but about acquiring. I walked in as a successful entrepreneur and walked out with the mindset and strategy of a CEO building an empire.
Gwen Jimmere
Founder and CEO at Naturalicious
This program was truly transformative and actionable. The lessons here, together with the quality of instruction adds a disproportionate amount of value with respect to the investment. I feel confident I can grow my business exponentially.
Dan Bigman
CEO at Gascó Industrial
As an executive running my company, Growing an Established Business helped me think through various aspects of my business and all I could do better. The program was well thought out and we all were well cared for exceptional meals and accommodations.
Kay Ramesh
CEO of Cybermedia Technologies
My week at Tuck left me feeling challenged intellectually and ready to amplify my business growth over the next year. I have a lot of work to do, and the sequence of sessions helped me prioritize where I need to focus to realize the greatest benefit.
Jason DeAlessi
Managing Director at Fuerza Strategy Group
As the owner of an IT and Engineering consulting firm, I came into the program looking to sharpen my strategy—and I left with a clearer vision, stronger tools, and a powerful network of peers. This wasn’t just professional development—it was personal. I walked away more knowledgeable, more focused, and with a renewed sense of confidence and community. The experience was transformative—packed with actionable insights and led by professors who truly understand the real-world challenges business owners face.
Lisa Flores
President of Talent Space
Participating in Growing an Established Business was transformational. It provided not only the tools to scale and sustain my business but also the space to reflect, connect, and grow alongside other driven, purpose-led entrepreneurs. The relationships and insights I gained will stay with me far beyond the classroom. I left more aligned, equipped, and inspired to lead with both strategy and soul.
Rwenshaun Miller
CEO of the Good Stress Company
Program Curriculum
Advanced sessions for established business owners.
Participants in Growing an Established Business already know the fundamentals it takes to establish a business, so our world-class faculty focus on only the most pertinent knowledge needed to achieve profitable long-term growth in today’s dynamic business environment. Throughout the program, participants use their own business as the case study, so they can apply and implement their learning immediately.
The Growing an Established Business experience includes sessions on:
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Strategy
Business Strategy for Growth I (Alva Taylor)
This session helps participants assess their current business strategies, prepare the business for intermediate and long-term growth, and identify areas to strengthen to accelerate growth and those that may be inhibiting growth.Business Strategy for Growth II (Alva Taylor)
This follow-up session teaches participants the foundations of the innovation process, and then helps them apply these innovation foundations to activities appropriate for their business. They will learn multiple perspectives to uncover and address potential innovations.Strategic Partnerships and Acquisitions (Alva Taylor)
During this session, participants will consider partnerships, acquisitions, and mergers as tools for growth. They will learn to set implementation guidelines for utilizing those tools, build a framework for evaluating partners and partnerships, and gain lessons from past successes and mistakes in partnering efforts.Negotiating for Growth (Aram Donigian)
This session helps participants learn the difference between negotiating transactions and strategic relationships. They will also discuss optimum strategies for reaching lasting agreements.Scaling Operations and Human Capital (Alva Taylor)
In this session, participants discuss strategies for growing their organization to scale and making use of every company's most important asset: their employees.Growth Leadership (Alva Taylor)
During this session, participants learn the importance of strong leadership during times of growth and change implementation, including tactics for growing their own leadership capabilities and that of their key direct reports. -
Marketing
Marketing Strategies to Scale (Gail Ayala Taylor)
This session emphasizes the importance of solving a problem or fulfilling a need for the “right” customer. It asks participants to review effective external communications approaches, develop a process mindset to facilitate growth, and examine different growth strategies and their corresponding marketing implications.Creating an Authentic Brand for Growth (Lauren Grewal)
During this session, participants will discuss the power of authentic brand as a foundation to scale. They will learn how to translate brand messages through marketing and communications across internal and external customer journeys, and create sample customer journey tools. -
Digital
Crafting Your Digital Presence (Alva Taylor)
This session will discuss the ways digital encompasses execution, operations, and innovation. Participants will build an organizationally shared mindset to become digitally capable, and understand how to incorporate new technologies into on-going business strategies. -
Finance
Overview of Financial Statements (Phil Stocken )
This session introduces the key financial statements, helping participants understand core accounting principles related to recognition, valuation, and performance measurement, as well as how to apply cost and revenue data to business decisions. This optional session is purposefully quite similar to the session of the same name in Building a Successful Business. It offers participants a chance to reconsider their business’s financial foundations now that they have seen additional growth.Financial Analysis in Preparation for Growth (Phil Stocken)
This session helps participants analyze a firm’s rate of return on assets, return to shareholders, short-term liquidity risk, and long-term solvency risk. By understanding all these aspects of their finances, participants can put themselves in the strongest growth position possible.Implementing your Financial Strategy for Growth (Phil Stocken)
In this session, participants work to develop their skills in preparing and assessing the projected financial statements that are used to decide between various firm strategies. -
Operations
Scaling Operations and Human Capital (Alva Taylor)
In this session, participants discuss strategies for growing their opportunity to scale and making use of every company's most important asset: their employees.
Business Action Plan
Come with a challenge. Leave with a plan.
With input and feedback from Tuck's renowned faculty and program peers, participants develop their own business action plan, applying program concepts to the strategic challenge they regard as their highest priority.
Growing an Established Business Faculty
FACULTY DIRECTOR
Alva Taylor
Senior Associate Dean for Executive Learning and Associate Professor of Business Administration
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Our faculty are committed to the needs of established business owners, and helping them face the crossroads that affect every business after a period of organic growth.
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Ella L.J. Bell Smith
Professor of Business Administration
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Aram M. Donigian T’08
Tuck Executive Education Faculty
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Lauren S. Grewal
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
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Joseph M. Hall
Senior Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning
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Phil Stocken
Professor of Accounting
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Alva Taylor
Senior Associate Dean for Executive Learning and Associate Professor of Business Administration
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Gail Ayala Taylor
Clinical Professor Of Business Administration
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Linzie Venegas
Tuck Executive Education Faculty
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The Tuck Experience
A setting unlike any other.
Thanks to its location in the heart of northern New England, in Hanover, New Hampshire, the immersive Tuck environment offers rich opportunities to refresh yourself mentally and physically as you're learning transformative new skills.
For decades, our staff has offered every participant the personal, connected, and transformative experience for which Tuck is renowned. Our executives return to work ready to apply their new frameworks.
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Travel & Accommodations
Part of what makes our programs so transformational is our secluded location in the Still North. Tuck is located less than three hours from Boston and less than five hours from New York City. Participants stay at the iconic Hanover Inn, a historic hotel with comfortable, modern rooms, located in the center of Hanover within easy walking distance of Tuck.
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Dining
Tuck provides delicious and healthy meals, including lunch and some dinners, for participants, offering a wide variety for all tastes. Coffee, tea, and light snacks are made available each day outside of the classroom. For the meals that are not provided as part of the program, participants often gather in small groups at one of Hanover’s many in-town coffee shops and restaurants, which serve up cuisines ranging from farm-to-table American and pub fare to Cuban and Nepali dishes.
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Recreation
Participants can keep up their fitness routines with complimentary access to the Lewinstein Athletic Center or by taking advantage of our rich natural resources with a hike through one of Dartmouth’s two on-campus parks. Participants may also enjoy visiting some of the College’s most iconic sites, including Baker Library, the Hood Museum of Art, and the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
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