Scaling is the process of cultivating and sustaining business growth.
You recognize the opportunity for expansion and jump right at it. This may sound easy on paper, but practice is dotted with roadblocks. We’re talking about things like miscommunication, insufficient delivery capacity, poor customer service, etc.
The truth is growth is not a straight line and the probability of failing is high. So, the million dollar question is how to scale a business in a reliable and sustainable way.
Well, you should know right away it’s a tough balancing act. It requires thorough planning, ample funding, right systems, capable staff, and modern technology.
It’s all comes down to two qualities: capability and capacity (to meet demand). Your operations have to adapt and evolve in order to accommodate growth.
The good news is you don’t have to work harder, just smarter. Here’s how to make it happen.
How to Scale a Business: A Game Plan
The first thing to do is come up with a rock-solid plan.
Take a good look at your workforce, infrastructure, and processes. Determine where you are now and where you want to be in the future.
You can simply imagine your orders double overnight. Then, you ponder whether you would be able to fulfill them. But, there’s an even better way to engage in planning.
Instead of making assumptions based on speculation and gut instinct, dig into data. Carry out primary and secondary research to evaluate your scaling and growth readiness.
Grasp the big picture before any specifics. Observe how the economic landscape around you shapes your chances. Scope out what your competition is doing.
Follow this up with a comprehensive sales growth forecast. Take into account the expected number of new customers, their value, and projected revenue growth. Be specific and realistic about your prospects.
Moving on, run a similar expense forecast.
Yes, your expenses are bound to go up. The only questions are where and how much.
So, calculate the costs of adding new staff, technology, systems, and office space. These resources are needed to support higher volumes of orders.
You can use spreadsheets to break down expenses for each month.
Based on all these insights, you need to set S.M.A.R.T. business goals. Communicate them properly to employees and stakeholders.
Secure the Funding
Once you have everything in black and white, initiate the next stage.
It revolves around securing enough money to fuel your expansion endeavors. To navigate this maze of decisions, you might want to have a high-profile finance person at your side.
Together, consult the financial segment of the business plan. It acts as a powerful investor magnet and contains an estimation of how much money you need.
When it comes to concrete financing tactics, they are many and varied.
Bootstrapping first springs to mind. It’s a viable course of action all right, but there’s a problem. It usually takes years to execute it. That’s why most owners have to rely on external sources of funding.
For instance, bank loans and lines of credit are among the most popular strategies for stimulating growth. They yield dividends provided you shop around for best interest rates. It also helps to have a solid credit score.
That being said, there are many alternative sources you can tap into. Crowdfunding via Kickstarter and other innovative platforms is booming. This approach enables you to validate your ideas without taking huge risks.
Speaking of which, you should try not to bite off more than you can chew. Encouraged by early investment, many businesses grow too quickly. In the process, their founders surrender equity and control over an organization.
To avoid this predicament, be creative in terms of overcoming money constraints. Before taking the plunge, consider all options. These avenues include venture capital, business incubators, angel investors, government grants, etc.
Start Driving Sales
You cannot live on bold promises and ambitions— you have to deliver on them in practice.
First off, take time to analyze current sales patterns. Discover where you are lacking. Perhaps you are serving the overcrowded segment of the market. Or you failed to address a real problem people face in everyday life.
In any event, you need a sufficient flow of leads as a lifeline. The best way to go about capturing it is to form a sales funnel. Study how your competitors garner leads— what channels and tactics they employ.
Rigorously split-test your model and develop your own competitive advantage.
Have a system for monitoring and managing leads and sales orders. Namely, observe how customers move from one stage of the funnel to the next. Gauge how long it takes for them to convert and keep an eye on cost-per-acquisition.
These indicators should help you weed out pain points, churn, and leaks in the funnel. Once fine-tuning is done, lay out data-driven marketing campaigns.
Again, there’s no shortage of cost-effective options. I would certainly not miss a chance to utilize content marketing and social media. These digital strategies add real value to consumers. Moreover, they offer unmatched visibility and exposure.
Email marketing is another staple associated with incredible ROI. You cannot go wrong with it, provided you build a contact list and segment it.
Whatever your choices are, target your audience with personalized messages. This is the way to elevate customer acquisition, satisfaction, and retention rates.
Get Smart with Financial Management
As sales increase, so do your profit margins.
Alas, you can’t rest on the laurels, not for a single moment. You have to be ready for more customers, data, and resources.
That’s to say you have to get on top of financial management. In other words, know how much money is coming in and out of your business. Find out where it’s originating from and streaming to.
This knowledge allows you to take control of your cash flow.
This term refers to the amount of money you have readily at hand. More specifically, cash flow can be operating, investing, and financing. Mind the difference.
In all three cases, success hinges on your ability to anticipate and steer clear of financial pitfalls. The worst case scenario is you run completely dry.
To minimize this dire risk, sort out billing and receivables processes.
Track down customers who are behind on payment and collect invoices in a timely manner. Financing them is a nice way to get an immediate cash injection. It quickly patches up holes in your cash flow.
Another approach is to encourage customers to spend more. For example, you can up-sell added products and services. Coupon discounts and special promotions also do the trick.
Lastly, try to implement a subscription model. This is a great long-term strategy that creates a new revenue stream. It also improves its predictability and enhances your bottom line.
It’s a real win-win.
Leverage Technology to Automate
In this day and age, manual processes are a bad old habit more than a necessity.
Technology is making waves across industry sectors. It allows companies to trim the costs, streamline operations, and scale faster. Deployed well, it keeps creeping effects of rising operational complexity at bay.
Automation is your main highway towards high-tech efficiency. By eliminating human intervention, it reduces the likelihood of error or wasted effort. It holds the power to completely revamps your key systems like marketing and CRM.
So, you might want to tool up and automate as much as you can.
There’s a solution to every problem you can imagine. You can harness tech to improve internal communication, project management, or email marketing campaigns.
Furthermore, don’t miss an opportunity to refine the workflows for maximum productivity. Integrate chatbots do offer online customer support around the clock. The list goes on.
When it comes to tool selection, there are no hard rules but two. Firstly, you should always factor in your specific needs instead of imitating others. The most important aspects are your current infrastructure, costs of implementation, and user-friendliness.
Secondly, and don’t splurge on shiniest new pieces of software. You are better off starting with platforms that are affordable, versatile, and scalable.
Likewise, bear in mind it’s crucial to carry out effective systems integration. This process ties up disparate systems and standardizes management. It does away with problems such as information silos and software incompatibility.
Maximize Human Resources
Human resources are a powerful catalyst for growth.
Like it or not, you cannot skimp in this department. In fact, invest in it as much as possible.
Apply a measured tactic and figure out how many people you need onboard. For instance, calculate how many prospects one service representative can accommodate. You can do the same for manufacturing, shipping, inventory management, and other areas.
Next, work out a detailed hiring policy. Define key roles and responsibilities. Provide a glossary of vital terms you throw around at meetings.
Notice you have two basic options: to hire in-house or to outsource. In the latter case, you seek competent freelancers, partners, or third parties online.
Both strategies have pros and cons you need to weigh. The former brings direct oversight, but also steeper overheads. Of course, you can also combine the two approaches to a great effect.
Finally, set up a system of motivating and incentivizing employees for peak productivity. Perks can be anything from an on-site fitness facility to 100% healthcare premiums.
They set you apart from a bunch of other similar companies. You are better able to attract and retain top talent. Not only that but newcomers will also feel valued and appreciated.
They will go the extra mile and become your devout brand ambassadors.
Rites of Passage
Knowing how to scale a business stems from trial and error.
It takes a lot of time and experience to get it right. But, you can also draw lessons from people who’ve been there and done that.
Before anything else, evaluate where you stand today. Determine how many strides you can feasibly make tomorrow. Craft your scale strategy to move forward with a sense of clarity.
Do the number crunching and make accurate financial predictions. Take advantage of modern technology to lay out automated processes. Put together a killer team and rally it around a clear vision.
Feel free to explore creative cash routes. More often than not, they propel you forward without hampering other goals.
Following these steps, you are likely to enter a fast lane to success. If you still encounter hurdles, check out our resource center for more insights.
It’s time to expand the customer base and outmaneuver the competition.