When your business is ticking along nicely, hitting targets, bringing in a profit, is this the time to sit back and be satisfied with what you’ve achieved? Do this for a minute or two if you must but when things are going that well then it’s exactly the right time to take your company upwards and on-wards and into the next phase of its growth.
Resting on your laurels simply isn’t an option in this hyper competitive market, so think carefully about what your business growth plans are. Are you looking to expand in size, in capacity or have you got an income-based figure in mind that you’re striving to reach?
When you’ve been given some breathing space, turn that time towards some creative thinking and some serious business planning. In this blog we take a look at some sure fire ways of growing your business, taking you to the next level.
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Expand Outwards
What does this mean to you? It might be that taking on more members of staff is how you envision your growth, or maybe you’re looking to move to bigger premises to give your existing team more space to do more of what they already do so well
Perhaps expansion means opening a new office, or outlet in another part of town or a different city altogether. Your expansion plans are only limited by your imagination.
Let’s look at expanding your team. The first step towards creating this area of growth is deciding on what role or roles you’re hoping to introduce. To do this, you’ll need to create a simple list of all the work and tasks that need fulfilling. You may well find that, as the list grows, there is room to create several jobs out of this list.
Once you’ve created a list of tasks and found a suitable job title, you need to think about the skills you’d be looking for in an individual to fill that role.
Think specific. Great communication is good, but too vague. Who will they be communicating with? Is it a customer facing or internal role? You want to narrow down the skillset of your ideal candidate in order to save time and effort filtering out candidates who can’t demonstrate the specific skills you’re looking for.
Expanding Capacity
Quite simply, can you do more? Can you produce more of the goods you make or offer more hours towards the services you offer? Many entrepreneurs will answer yes to either question because they want it to be true. While this is ambitious, it might not be realistic. Growth in this area must be planned for or it will come crashing down as you struggle to meet the demands you have created.
Growth like this requires careful planning so get that started. Dust off those old business plans and see which areas require updating in order to allow your business to start meeting its potential. It’s time to start setting new, more ambitious goals but having the plans in place to allow that to happen and not jumping in feet first.
If, up until now, your marketing has been rather more of an organic affair with customers finding you on social media or through word of mouth, then it might be time to up your game.
You might want to hire in a marketing guru to your team, someone who can kick start a proactive, intentional marketing plan with tangible objectives and outcomes. If you’re not looking to recruit someone internal, then think about hiring a consultant or taking on an agency through Agency Loft, for example.
You might ask them to draw you up marketing plan, concentrate solely on your social media or take on a direct mailing activity as a one-off. Whatever it is you ask them to do, make it specific to your own business plan and build your growth around the success of this task.
Prepare to Succeed
If you think all this talk of growth is just lip service then chances are you’ll be caught on the back foot when you do see actual, real success in your business. So many business owners strive for growth and success but are taken aback when it actually happens. Don’t get put in that position, have faith in the work you do and its capacity to take your business further and further.
You’ll want to ensure that you have everything you need in place to succeed. You’ll need to have your team, IT specialist or consultant take your tech for a thorough test drive. Can your website, your ordering and payment systems handle an increase in traffic and sales? Take a look at your software too. Is that old but steady accounting software really still up to the job or is some investment needed to keep your finances in better shape?
Get your team trained up to use any new software and confident in their abilities to deal with an influx of customers. Share your business plans, share your expected growth rates and have them fully up to speed, able to help you fulfil your business objectives.
Running your own business is exciting, terrifying and ultimately very rewarding. When things go right, they go really right but the mistakes and the disasters are on your head too. Give yourself and your business a fighting chance of staying ahead of growth by getting your planning and preparations done in plenty of time.
Recruit new staff that fit exactly the roles that need to be filled. Helping you to pick up the work that you don’t have the time or the skills to do yourself and supporting other team members.
Have your existing team trained up and ready to work with you, prepared to help you take your business to the next level.
When things are going well then now is the time to plan how you’re going to take your business from good to exceptional. You and your business deserve it and there’s no time to lose so get planning for growth today.
