Scaling up a business can be an exciting but daunting prospect. Handled in the right way with consideration given to some key fundamentals, a business can quickly be on the road to growth success.
Every day brings news of signs of economic recovery, slow but sure, and business growth seems to be on the rise in many areas and many sectors.
As a result, some smaller businesses might be looking to capitalise on new opportunities but may need to scale up in order to do so. Taking the leap of faith can be a daunting prospect, and should be a well-considered step. Here are five key considerations when looking to take your business to the next level.
· Resource planning – so, you may have a new client or contract which means extra income. Great! But how is the extra work going to be dealt with? For ‘one-man-band’ operations this could mean the significant step of bringing on one or more employees. It’s important to scope out the work so that it is clear how much resource is needed to avoid being caught short and failing to meet an order or give good service, but equally not over-staffing and incurring unnecessary costs. It may be feasible to use freelance help if the step of employing staff seems too big, or the contract length is short or unknown. Remember, carefully vet anyone that will undertake work for you, don’t recruit friends or family unless you’re sure they can do the job and take time out for a proper induction process.
· Finance – growth spells extra income but also extra layout, and usually the layout needs to come before the income, whether in the form of extra equipment or staff resource, so cash flow is crucial here. Look into options of finance to bridge this gap, which could include looking to existing assets and freeing equity from them, borrowing from friends or family or checking out local business support services to see if any grants are available – you may just be in luck.
· Regular reviews – this will be crucial to check the management accounts including balance sheet on a very regular basis to keep an eye on everything and ensure any problems can be identified and rectified early on. This sounds obvious but often getting caught up in the day-to-day business operations means keeping a close eye on things falls by the wayside and issues only come to light when it’s too late.
· Take a step back – when growing a business it’s important to think more on a management level, even if you’re still involved in executing day-to-day duties. More work means more management planning and if employees or freelance help is involved, management if even more important a function.
· Recognise when you need help – it’s understandable that business owners might want to save on costs wherever possible in a growth stage but recognising when extra advice or consultancy is needed is crucial as getting the right advice at the right time can make the difference between success and failure. With many accountancy service providers now offering fixed-fee, high support packages, it’s never been easier to access good advice on tap.
