4 Ways to Scale Your Business for Sustainable Growth
Growth is only sustainable if you have the systems and resources in place to support expansion. Below are four strategies to help ensure that your company is properly scaled for sustainable growth.
1. Automate and standardize processes
When you’re in the startup phase, you’ll likely find yourself handling many of the small, day-to-day tasks of running your business such as invoicing, payroll, and inventory. But if you’re looking to scale, neither you nor your team leads can afford to be bogged down with such mundane work.
In order to scale for growth, invest in business software systems that fully automate these tasks and implement standardized and repeatable processes for those tasks that can’t be totally automated. This may also require training and delegating these tasks to your existing team and/or hiring new support staff.
2. Protect your foundation
One of the most dangerous aspects of rapid growth are the increased liabilities that come with expanding your operation. Even if you’ve developed streamlined processes and systems for delivering your core product or service, your business is still at risk if you don’t have solid legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) foundation for your operations. Without an effective LIFT foundation, your company can be one accident, audit, or lawsuit away from ruin. I can assist you in establishing a solid LIFT foundation, so that your business has increased protection from all of growth’s potential pitfalls.
3. Identify what sets you apart from competitors
Unless you clearly understand what drives customers to engage with your business over your competitors, you risk taking the wrong path for growth. To this end, you must first identify your company’s core strengths, and then use this knowledge to develop strategies aimed at scaling for focused growth.
Don’t try to guess what customers find appealing about your business—base your decisions on hard data. From website analytics and survey responses to analyzing customer movement through your sales funnel, there are numerous data sources from which you can identify both your strengths and weaknesses and scale accordingly.
4. Build strategic partnerships
When it comes to increased growth, you can’t just focus on what goes on inside your organization. You also need to look outside your business to find partners who can support your expanding operation. For example, if you’re looking to dramatically increase your sales and customer base, you must have vendors who can handle this increased volume.
Form strategic alliances with multiple vendors, such as suppliers, service providers, and sales channel partners, who can meet your growing needs. When creating these alliances, make sure you have airtight agreements in place that properly share the risk. I can support you with this too.
Scale for sustainable success
Achieving sustainable success is not about simply growing your business, but in scaling your operation, so you can welcome growth without unnecessary expense and wasted effort. However, effective scalability often requires skills and systems you may not fully anticipate.
If you are ready to take your business to the next level, you can begin by sitting down with me to perform an assessment of your business and evaluate whether it is structured in a manner to withstand growth. To book your Business Breakthrough Session, click here.
This article is a service of Attorney Delania Barbee of Barbee Law Boutique, PLLC and is for general educational purposes only. You should seek legal counsel or other professional counsel for advice specific to your situation. Barbee Law Boutique, PLLC offers business legal services and can help you make strategic business decisions to build a legacy business that can have impact throughout your life and beyond. The firm offers an assessment of your business, which includes a review of your legal, insurance, financial, and tax foundation. To receive these articles straight to your e-mail inbox, join the firm’s e-mail list at bit.ly/BLBinsider or click here.
