If you’re at that critical growth stage and want to be sure you’re scaling the right way and at the right pace, there are a few key factors to bear in mind that can make all the difference.
1. Know your market inside-out
All the questions you asked when starting the business are just as valid, perhaps more so, as you’re growing it. Who are your customers going to be What do you offer thats different Who is the competition and where are the gaps in what it provides
In particular, youll want to know where scale already exists in your market and which of your competitors are already in that space. That way you can get a grip on what sort of investment you’re likely to need to exploit those bigger opportunities.
2. Be prepared for the roadmap to change
Scaling a business never goes 100 per cent according to plan there might be external economic factors at play, or your product development might take longer than expected. Lots of start-ups get bogged down in numbers and processes but there has to be some element of flexibility in the business plan which means focusing on the end result, not on how you’re getting there.
Ideally, have a Plan B for the business in the back of your mind (which is, admittedly, easier in some sectors than others).
3. Know your figures
Scale means knowing where the price pressure is coming from the costs, overheads and ROI as well as where you can cut corners or make investment to focus on growth.
As the business is growing, you need to know that hiring five more salespeople will result in X more revenue and that the most investment should go on product line Y and not the others. It also means understanding where you dont need to scale: you might have 15 operational employees, but do you need to hire more to cope with new business or could you better spend that money elsewhere
Read more tips on page two…
4. Have the right people around you
Scaling will require more people, but you need employees who buy into what you’re trying to achieve and know that your company has forward momentum. It could also mean adding in a level of middle management you simply didnt need before.
Also, bear in mind that you might need to hire to help you scale. Do you need people to carry out your existing operations, freeing up your senior people to focus on growth, or do you need experts on China to support the office you’re opening there You need to ask yourself if the existing leadership can scale the business or if you need to bring in people who can.
Find out other ways to scale your business:
- How to master the art of scaling up your company
- NESTA: What SMEs can do about the UK’s productivity issue
- Why 2015 must be the year we accelerate and produce more high-growth status firms
5. Be willing to compromise
Nothing is set in stone and fulfilling that vision for the business may require you to, for example, pay your suppliers a bit more than your competitors do. Or perhaps you planned to open in China, Russia and Brazil this year, but red tape in one of those countries is delaying everything so you can only open in one of them.
What you can never compromise, however, is your vision for the business. Thats how you began and it’s what will carry you into further success.
Dale Lovell is chief digital officer at Adyoulike UK.
