Isn’t it rewarding to see your small business, born from a simple idea, grow into a thriving business that meets customer expectations? When sales explode, opportunities but also challenges present themselves to you.
Skyrocketing growth is great, but you still need to stay in control of your business. Even if your business is growing, you shouldn’t lose sight of the main reasons why customers have chosen your products, your services and your brand. You also need to maintain top quality and always deliver an exceptional customer experience.
Many investors wonder how to achieve this while managing growth.
1. Maintain a reasonable rate of growth
The most important thing in any growth strategy is to establish a plan. Decide on the scale of your growth, the timeline and the resources needed to reach your goal. Then develop a business plan to help you achieve your goals. The plan should include the impact of growth on day-to-day operations and staff as well as roles to be filled, changes to sales and marketing activities, and methods for monitoring progress in achieving the plan.
You must also define the risks that could hinder the expansion. For example, are there areas of your business that are currently struggling? If so, rapid growth will only exacerbate the situation. It is important to resolve any issues before embarking on a growth strategy.
2. Hire employees
Like many small business owners, you’ll probably agree that attitude is everything when it comes to hiring an employee. If a person has a good attitude, works hard and is willing to help, but does not have any special skills, it will always be possible to train them. When you trust the people you work with and give them the latitude to make decisions, they become an important part of growing your business.
When you start expanding your business, you may not have the resources to hire full-time employees. Consider different options, such as hiring part-time, contract employees or freelancers. You may not need a full-time accounting clerk, but you could hire someone one day a week to handle invoicing and accounts receivable.
3. Decide to delegate
When starting a business, most entrepreneurs do everything themselves, from product development and sourcing to marketing, sales and accounting to product delivery and more. To help you succeed in your expansion, it would be a good idea to hire staff and delegate some of the work. It’s not always easy to do for an entrepreneur who has his own vision of how to run his business.
To support the growth of your business, you must trust the competent people you have hired. Be aware that you don’t have all the skills, nor the time, to continue being the expert in everything. Once you’re ready, hire people who are more qualified than you to do certain tasks. For example, if you’re the face of your business, hire someone to do the administrative work so you can continue to meet customers and make sure they’re happy. As the owner of the company, your job is to provide the talented employees you have selected with everything they need to do their jobs. No one will do things exactly the way you would, but that’s okay.
4. Manage variations in demand
Every business has its own sales cycle. Some products are seasonal, others are timeless. While others, like food and beverages, have a limited shelf life. Where your products are made also affects your business cycles. If you are sourcing overseas, you should allow longer lead times to ensure inventory meets demand. No business owner would want to miss a sale due to out of stock. Be prepared for a surge in demand by slightly increasing your inventory.
To properly manage your sales cycles, it is important to monitor and analyze your data. Look at year-over-year numbers to spot trends and opportunities. Find out about product manufacturing and delivery times. For peak periods, have a back-up plan with other suppliers and producers and use temporary workers who can quickly come to your aid to meet demand.
5. Reinvest in your business
You know your business is constantly changing and you may be wondering what’s next. Think about your goals. Do you want to enter new markets?
Once you’ve decided which direction to take, review your strategic business plan, update it accordingly, and figure out what needs to be done to achieve your goals. For example, if you want to expand your market, you may need to open a new establishment. You will need to find the ideal location, negotiate the lease, plan renovations and hire staff. To do all this, you will need capital. Look at the numbers before making the decision to reinvest in your business.
As a small business owner, it’s great to see your efforts paying off and your business continuing to grow. A little planning goes a long way to ensuring sustainable and reasonable growth and ultimately the success of your business.
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