How To Scale a Business Properly

Growth can be both a gift and a curse for a business. Many businesses end up failing at this very point because of many factors. They may not have the proper administrative structure yet, or they might have difficulties with hiring. Having to deal with more employees also comes with issues. Others might overestimate their production capacity and fail to deliver on big orders. Let’s take a look at how you should scale a business.

Strategize and Plan

You first have to see if your business is actually ready for growth. Look at your current sales and imagine if you had to deal with double or triple that number. Then, evaluate if you have the resources in place to handle that. Will they be able to handle this level of sales with no issues? Can your supply chain handle it? Can your suppliers deliver the quantities you need in the time needed? These are all crucial questions you’ll need to ask before you take the next step.

Look at Your Infrastructure

You will also need to look at your current infrastructure. For instance, you may have heavier customer service needs from now on and get more calls from customers. If your building’s cabling is outdated, you’ll end up with bottlenecks, missed calls, and people who can’t get to you. This is all bad news.

In this case, we would suggest that you reach out to experts in structured cabling like Richmond Communications Group, Inc. People like these will be able to come in, inspect your system, and see if there could be room for improvement. Little things like these could help your business handle higher call volumes and coordinate your departments better.

You may also need to scale up your cybersecurity, too. IT experts can advise you on things like zero trust identity and other data protection measures.

Get the Funds

Expanding your business takes money. You might need to invest in new technology, hire all sorts of experts, hire more employees, or purchase/rent a new location. You will need to know where that money will come from. You could decide to seek financing such as business loans or a company business credit card that you can use to cover your business expenses, but you could also build a timeline for expansion and try to boost your sales in the meanwhile. You could go for a final marketing push before you expand. If you feel like you have the team for it and come up with an efficient and frugal campaign, this could be all that you need.

You can also look into giving up equity. Depending on your years running the business and your expertise, you might be able to keep control of your company. Having a minority owner who understands your business is a must if you don’t want them to be dead weight.

Start Implementing New Systems

You should also start rolling out your new systems and processes before you start growing. Give your people the time to get familiar. Things like CMSs can have a very steep learning curve, especially when you use special rules and have many integrations. So, let your team get acclimated with those and they will be ready once you decide to expand.

These are all things you’ll need to take into consideration before expanding your business. This is a very important step for every business, so don’t rush the process.