It’s always an entrepreneur’s goal to scale and grow their business. This can be an exciting time, as it will push you to make connections, build your business’ profile and move from milestone to milestone until you get to scale up your business to its maximum potential.
However, the journey can also be daunting as there is a lot of risk involved and many different paths to consider. Without the right plan and guidance, approaches to scale your business can result to the opposite and can tear what you build down.
Don’t let your hard work go to waste. Here are ways to scale your business successfully.
Have a Goal
You cannot visualize your journey and create a map if you do not have a destination in mind. This principle also applies to scaling your business. Before taking the steps in scaling your business, have a final goal in mind. Think of what you want to achieve and where you want to see your business in 6 months, then a year, in 3 years and beyond. This helps you set directions and can guide you in different major decisions that you have to make.
As you begin to scale the various processes and departments of your business, keep these goal/s in mind to ensure all changes are cohesive and consistent. Having one or maybe a few goals in mind for scaling your business also helps to make the challenge of scaling less intimidating and more digestible.
Be sure to share your goals with your team to make sure everyone is on the same page. This will help usher collaboration, so everyone can work together towards a defined goal.
Don’t Sacrifice Quality
Scaling for growth can easily spread a business a little too thin. Mindfully scale your business and get your processes organized for efficiency, so you don’t sacrifice quality along the way. You don’t have to reduce important business processes to be efficient. You just have to figure a smarter way to do them.
Try to design standard workflow processes for your teams. You can also consider investing in tools, like agile project management platforms or CRM systems to automate and streamline processes. Making smart use of technology can help improve your teams’ productivity and save costs in the long run. It can eliminate repetitive tasks for team members, lessening their stress and allowing them to focus their energy and effort to help the business grow through creative ideas and actualization.
Seek Funding
Many scaling plans require money. Realistically, growing a business means expanding your team, investing in tools and technology infrastructure, allotting a budget for marketing, operations and production and even hiring key people to help.
There are many ways to seek funding for business growth, especially for start-ups. You can consider a business loan, outside investment from angel investors and Venture Capitals, or crowdfunding. There are also acceleration programs, start-up contests and government-initiated programs offering grants to qualified businesses.
These different funding options may involve equity or require varying repayment conditions. So be sure to do some research and understand the funding methods before engaging. Whatever interest or repayment plan is in place, be sure you are prepared to take it on and that your growth plans can accommodate this repayment over time.
Assemble a Good Team
No matter how revolutionary your product or offer is or what tools you use, it is your people who can make it work and will drive your business forward. Having a competent and trustworthy team is invaluable to a business. So pay good attention to assembling your people. This is not a quick process as hiring the right people takes careful consideration and time.
Be patient and find the right people skilled for the job before you implement scaling plans. Invest in your people and try to keep them motivated and happy. Provide them with relevant and realistic tasks and make sure they feel acknowledged for their contributions. This way, you can establish a better relationship with your team, therefore encouraging better cooperation and a lighter working environment despite the stress of running and growing a business can create.
Ask for Help
You do not have to take the journey of scaling your business alone. You can always ask other businesses or experts for help. This can be general help or specific help for a certain aspect of your business.
It’s also a good thing to establish connections in the industry, especially in the same market sector you operate. Many of the people and businesses you’ll get to know can teach you a thing or two. Do your research about how other businesses in your sector grew. Note that their approach will not always work for your business, but it pays to have an idea of the possibilities there are.
Consulting with people outside of your industry is also valuable as this can bring a perspective that you may not have considered. Learning how other businesses have scaled along with their successes and failures will help you better navigate this growth phase.
Scale Up to Success and Beyond
Scaling your business venture to the next level is a whole other challenge compared to launching. It takes a lot of preparation, requires a more strategic approach and may call for more critical business decisions. But don’t let the risks and doubts scare you. As long as you have the goal to focus on and the right team to work with, scaling up your business successfully is not impossible.
