While every entrepreneur may want to get to the top, only a very few ever take their companies to the highest level.

“Only 5 percent of IPOs in the United States make it to $1 billion in revenue,” said David Thomson, author of “Blueprint to a Billion: 7 Essentials to Achieve Exponential Growth,” speaking at a conference held by the Association for Corporate Growth in Rosemont. “That 5 percent then accounts for half of the employment of all IPOs and 64 percent of the market capital.”

In an interesting twist, Thomson himself initially set out to start and develop yet another business, something he had done numerous times in the past, but that process eventually turned into three years of research on companies that had achieved $1 billion in revenue.

He then turned that research into a business after receiving multiple book offers.

“When I started to do my research I found that there was a lot on entrepreneurship out there, but nothing on what I was looking for,” he said. “I wanted to know how these billion dollar companies beat the odds and made it to that level. It eventually became my quest and 450 Power Point presentations later, here I am.”

There are roughly 7,500 IPOs in the U.S., which means there are fewer than 400 billion dollar companies. Illinois, along with states like California and New York, has proven to be fertile ground for the growth of such mega-companies.

Thomson identified seven attributes of high-growth companies and concluded that each company that makes it to the billion-dollar mark excels in at least five of the categories.

They are: quality consumer benefits or customer experience; exploitation of a high growth market segment; obtaining marquee customers; forming business alliances; mastering exponential returns; dynamic management teams; and powerful boards.

The consumer retail market yields the most companies in the top 5 percent, followed by information technology, finance and health care, said Thomson.

While many entrepreneurs and companies believe that they need to find an emerging market to be successful, Thomson said that is not the case.

“You don’t need to find an emerging market,” he said. “Companies can enter an existing multi-billion dollar market and carve out a portion of that. Don’t wait for emerging markets.”

Mostly though, companies need to master exponential growth.

“Companies that start doubling every year are the ones that get there the fastest,” said Thomson. “Exponential growth has to be like a morning cup of coffee. If you get used to it, it hurts to go a morning without it. Eventually, you will earn your right to slow down.”

Three companies representing Illinois—Elgin-based Middleby Corporation, Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group and DeVry Inc. in Oakbrook Terrace—are either on the way to a billion-dollar revenue year or have recently achieved it.

Middleby, a kitchen supply company for many fast-food chains, was losing its market share less than 10 years ago, causing company officials to alter the firm’s business plan. Since then, Middleby has shot up in revenue growth and is on pace to reach $1 billion in revenue within the next five years.

“In 1999 60 percent of our business was to fine dining establishments,” said Selim Bassoul, chairman and CEO of Middleby. “These restaurants thought it was our privilege to have our equipment in their kitchens. They didn’t want to pay us. Then I knew we had to adopt a new philosophy.”

Bassoul decided that rather than searching out high-end fine dining locations, Middleby would shift gears and approach “healthy fast food” chains like Panera Bread, Panda Express and Chipotle.

Since making this shift in 2000, Middleby has quadrupled its sales and has become the number one company in its industry worldwide.

“We now dominate this sector of business,” Bassoul said.

Huron Consulting Group was formed in 2002 and the company predicts its 2007 revenues before reimbursable expenses will fall between $510 million and $523 million.

The company grew rapidly because of early acquisition of marquee clients, said Gary Holdren, chairman, CEO and president of Huron.

“We won the business of United Airline’s bankruptcy in 2002,” said Holdren. “This was a marquee customer. Word of mouth will spread and that is the best way to gain new clients.”

DeVry Inc., has been in business for more than 50 years, giving it a lengthy and unorthodox path to becoming a billion dollar organization, but Daniel Hamburger, president and CEO, said that the educational provider has reached that milestone.

The company has increased its revenue through a mixture of organic growth and acquisitions, he said.

“We have grown our business through market research,” said Hamburger. “There is a tremendous shortage of nurses, doctors and accountants now. We figure out where to go and then focus on execution.”