I have been working with small to medium sized enterprises for many years now and the biggest question that I am asked is ‘what is the best way for my business to grow? This is a valid question for any business owner with ambition and it is one that is tricky to answer in any general fashion, it really does depend on the type of business that you have and the industry which you are in.
To try to give you some general tips on successfully growing your business, I had a chat with the growth experts at Patriot Choice Inc. and we have put together a few key things that you need to do in order to grow your business and take it to the next level.
Always Plan
Growth doesn’t happen overnight an you should make sure that you have been planning for growth for a long time. If you don’t currently have a plan for how, where and when you will grow your business and what the triggers will be then it is time to hit the drawing board. Many businesses struggle when the demand exceed the supply because they had never planned for this kind of growth, make sure that you avoid becoming one of them.
Take a Risk
It is important of course that your growth happens in bitesized pieces so that you do not have too much financial exposure as you seek to reach the next level of business. With this being said, there are always going to be times when you need to take a risk for the business. Any risk in business should be well calculated and in terms of growth, there is not always a clear sign that it is time to go bigger, at times you will need to go bigger first and then let the business catch up. If you think things are going well then increase production, move into that new office space or change your supplier, whatever it takes to grow, as long as you have calculated the risks, you should be confident and committed.
Align All Aspects
There is no point upping supply if you have not placed additional money into marketing, there is no point in bringing out new products if you have not yet figured out how you can push them and who too. Aspect like this are vitally important when it comes to growth and when you decide that it is time, you need to make sure that each aspect of the business compliments the other. Think of the various aspects of your business like a team, there is no point in one going off and doing one activity whilst the rest stay where they were. Review all aspects of your business when pushing for growth and be sure that they are all on the same side.
Growth can be a scary prospect but it is one which will take your business to the next level, be confident, be smart and go and find that success!