You took a chance when launching your startup, and it seems to be paying off now. If this happens, it is time to start scaling your business to keep up with the rising demand for your goods or services.
Scaling a business is about growing its capability and capacity, ensuring that an enterprise can grow without sacrificing the quality of production, delivery, and customer service. A business that grows quickly without laying the groundwork for such growth might stumble and fall.
How can you ensure your business’s successful scaling?
Evaluation and preparation
Scaling a business is not something that should be undertaken lightly. It requires much deliberation and planning to ensure success. Before even contemplating business growth, evaluate the status quo. Determine your projected sales growth by new customers, orders, and revenue to ensure that you will recover money spent scaling the business.
Start with areas that involve infrastructure. Your current base of operations might become too small. You will not be able to manufacture or store sufficient products to meet customer demands. Are you contactable, or does your business need an industry leading hosted PBX system so that you and your staff never miss a call?
Finance your plan
With facts and figures in hand, use your projections to determine which areas need immediate attention if you want to scale your business on a budget. By now, you might be starting to break even because of increased sales while still covering startup costs.
Instead of proceeding straight to the bank for a loan, look at some alternatives. For example, what about taking on a partner who has money to invest and will help run the business as it grows?
Your business might qualify for federal, state, and local grants for small businesses. The government encourages business growth because it leads to higher employment.
Prioritize automation
While it may be tempting to take on a new batch of employees, this might not be the answer you need. Find out from tech experts what processes you can automate, such as billing and accounting.
Use integrated software that allows you to access all aspects of your business in one place and give you a bird’s eye view of what is happening. A single system eliminates silos and allows for the free flow of data.
Increase staffing
As an employer experiencing business growth, you need dynamic staff members who can work independently. Therefore, this is the wrong time to be hiring friends and family because they need jobs, despite them lacking the requisite knowledge and skills.
Remember, it is wonderful to hire people and provide them with employment. However, you must do so sustainably. In today’s market, there is no point in taking on staff if you cannot do so long-term. If you are not ready to take on full-time employees, consider contractors and freelancers for part-time functions, like marketing and bookkeeping.
Secure future income
With the expense of scaling your business, you should see increased sales and revenues, right? This might not be the case if you do so without ensuring that the growth you are experiencing is set to continue. Your digital marketing strategy should be prioritized so that you are continuously reaching out to new potential clients.
Additionally, you must look after existing customers to keep them coming back instead of looking elsewhere. This will happen if your business grows, and you no longer seem capable of providing the personal touch that attracted customers initially.
Ensure that client service standards do not degenerate as a business grows. These people got you where you are today and deserve continued outstanding service.
