Business growth in the midst of chaos is still achievable. It may seem like an unorthodox idea to scale your business in a season of business and distress.
However, when you lean into the growth of your business properly, it can cause great success for your future.
There’s good news! It’s not as hard as it seems. Most of what goes into scaling your business consists of organizational prep work, and structuring your team for the growth you’re about to experience.
Scaling Requires Change
The biggest tip when learning how to scale your business is to start thinking about how certain things should operate when you reach the level you would like to. This means to think like you would in the future, not how you would normally right now. Ask yourself some questions like…
- How will this work when we reach 1,000 customers, or more?
- What kind of people do I need to hire when I need to expand?
- Which department needs the most help in order to grow?
These kinds of questions will allow you to think of the bigger picture and establish next steps before you even get there.
Scaling up will require basic financial strategies as well. You’ll need to find out where you can cut costs that aren’t necessary, and increase funds where they are needed. This will help set you up for what the future looks like! Growing your business doesn’t always mean more money for you in the beginning. You will need to know what percentage of income needs to be invested back into the company to sustain your growth before thinking about bonuses.
In addition, never sacrifice quality for quick service. The best part about operating at a smaller scale is that you have the time and man-power to focus on every little detail. This means happier customers and better quality products. Before scaling up, figure out how you can produce the best service possible at the rate of your growth. This may require hiring more employees, or re-strategizing your systems. Find out what will work for you, and do it really well!
Sweat The Small Stuff
Don’t try fixing something that isn’t broken! Do some recon within your business and find out what your strengths are before trying to change everything right away. It is so important to keep simple traditions alive that already work for you and will continue to do so at a larger scale. Instead of changing these things, use these systems as leverage to make the start of your growth even stronger.
The small investments it takes to grow your team will pay off. It may seem like a small burden to bear in the beginning, but it does add up after hiring and training for the next three months. Don’t worry! You are making a good investment in your company. Hiring more team members will allow your current team not to feel so overwhelmed with all of the new strategies and processes you are putting in place. The work will become well distributed and will produce a financial return.
Planning six months ahead when it comes to your cash flow is a must! It may seem small and tedious to look at each month’s financial reports to find extra cash, but it pays off. Within the hiring of new employees and paying for new technology, you’ll need to see where your cash flow is. This will help you establish a savings plan to set your business up for success if a disaster strikes. Start to save monthly in order to build up six months of bills. This includes payroll, utility bills, rental fees etc. Think through every little thing!
Establish Your Role
If you are still sitting on the fence of taking this next step, just remember that if you never take a risk, you may never see growth. It is your job as the entrepreneur of your company to make sure you are always challenging it to be better. It can be scary at times, but it is totally worth the risk. You may end up witnessing the great success of your lifetime.
It will be tempting for you to remain a part of all of the details and scrutinize every little thing, but it is important that you know it cannot be your role moving forward. Your job is to look into the future, not to keep your head down. You cannot keep your hands in everything your team is doing. You’ll need to learn how to trust the processes you’ve created for your business and have confidence that they are being followed.
If this is the next step for you, don’t hesitate! Growth will look different for every business. As long as you put goals in place to reach the next level, you are bound to reach it.