How a financial services firm positioned itself for exponential growth using the Scaling Up platform

By Verne Harnish

Alan Chang has multiplied annual revenue at OA Group by 6x in the past nine years and built his team to 60 people by applying the principles of Scaling Up. 

Working with Scaling Up Certified Coach Jeremy Han, the Singapore-based compliance, assurance and advisory firm has grown annual revenue to $6.5 million since 2016, with a compound annual growth of 22%.

The firm now works with more than 1,000 SMEs across Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. “I am impressed by the extent Alan is willing to challenge himself and change,” says Han. “He leads by exemplifying personal leadership and transformation. All companies face challenges, but the extent to which they can overcome depends on how willing and able the CEO and team are to break their own limitations and grow. Alan and his team have demonstrated that they have a growth mindset, indeed, and the resilience to break through and scale.”

Nonetheless, in an industry where many companies plateau, Chang knows he can’t rest on past successes. He has made Scaling Up part of the firm’s DNA as he continually looks for new ways to differentiate the firm. “We need to continue to adapt to stay relevant,” he says.

Sharpening a growth strategy

Chang, a chartered accountant, co-founded the firm in 2016 with a team of about 10 people, after 20 years as a leader at large accounting firms such as KPMG and Mazars. He took the helm as managing director in 2018 upon his partner’s exit.

One of Chang’s major goals was making sure that the company’s three main branches—assurance, compliance and advisory—developed in tandem under a clear, unified structure. 

Finding “the missing piece”

Chang became familiar with the Scaling Up platform through EO KL Taipan. The company had tried another operating system, but he found OA Group needed a platform that brought more strategic depth, growth architecture and scalability to guide a company of its size and complexity.

“The Scaling Up framework immediately resonated with me as the missing piece,” he says.

He joined Scaling Up workshops run by EO in 2023 and began working with his leadership team on the One-Page Strategic Plan, applying the Four Decisions Framework and implementing daily huddles. “These gave us an immediate lift in clarity and alignment,” he says. “But I knew Scaling Up couldn’t remain just a CEO-level tool. For it to stick, the leadership team had to own it.”

That’s why in 2023 and 2024, he sent middle managers to the Scaling Up Crash Course. “Scaling can’t live in the CEO’s head—the leadership team had to own it,” says Chang.

Articulating a Brand Promise

It was at the crash course that Chang got to know Han, who was running it. The company decided to engage Han in Q4 2024, seeking external guidance on structure and alignment within the complex firm.

To help OA Group develop the right strategy, Han worked with Chang and his leadership team on developing key elements of the One-Page Strategic Plan. In doing so, he noticed a major blind spot. 

“We had values and long-term goals, but no clear Brand Promise,” says Chang. “What clients valued most was predictability and trust. That’s when our Brand Promise—’No Surprises. Always Proactive. Always On Time’—became the anchor.”

Although many CPAs would say they offer something similar, he has found that few can deliver. That allows the firm to stand out in a highly commoditized market. “I don’t need to be creative, but I need to just live up to what I promised to do,” says Chang.

Attracting top talent

Chang knew that to grow the firm, he needed to attract and retain A Players. The firm introduced the Monthly Performance Review, which links team members’ contributions to both its Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) and purpose directly to their compensation. Middle managers also complete a One-Page Personal Plan, which aligns their personal goals with the company’s direction. “These tools strengthened accountability and alignment,” says Chang.

Alongside this, the team designed a simple flywheel: Attract A-Players → Deliver Consistent Quality → Build Trust → Support Cross-Border Expansion → Generate Referrals → Attract More Clients. “This keeps our growth compounding,” says Chang.

Keeping a team aligned

Establishing clear rhythms of daily and weekly huddles keeps the team on the same page and surfaces problems quickly. “The rhythms changed everything,” says Axton Yong, head of corporate advisory. “We no longer let problems drag on for months—we solve them quickly, and my team has clarity on what matters.”

To support greater accountability, the firm worked with Han to build a weekly huddle dashboard, “ensuring that what we track reflects strategy, not just activity,” says Chang. “This gave the leadership team visibility and accountability like never before.”

OA Group has also established monthly CEO reporting sessions and updates, along with monthly business unit meetings, creating a cadence that links long-term priorities with short-term accountability.

The firm launched a yearly planning framework, OA Forward, in 2025, in which Han facilitates the sessions and provides real-time feedback, ensuring alignment across departments.

Chang calls OA Forward the culmination of their Scaling Up work: “It connects our BHAG, the Four Decisions, and our daily rhythms into one yearly cycle. It’s how we keep scaling with discipline.”

Prioritizing financial transparency

To make financial conversations simple and clear, OA Group implemented Cash Flow Story, a software that provides insight into its financial performance. “Teams now understand how choices impact cash and profit, which has built stronger ownership and discipline,” says Chang.

That has helped to support the firm’s strategy. “Scaling Up gave us a clear line of sight to strategy,” says Lee Khim, group finance director. “For the first time, my team isn’t just reporting numbers—we’re connecting them directly to the business priorities.”

Helping clients scale

OA Group has found that applying the Scaling Up platform has brought an unexpected benefit: It has allowed the firm to guide its clients as they scale, too.  

One logistics client, for example, grew more than five-fold since 2020, while OA took care of compliance and assurance. Says Chang, “When we scale, our clients scale too.”