As a small business owner, getting your business off the ground is demanding, and growing it is equally challenging. Moreover, establishing a customer base is a prerequisite for your business’s success; however, it only materializes after a while. But with a proper plan, your new business can be a source of satisfaction as you endeavor to grow.
Growth is good, but it’s only sometimes sustainable, so you must scale your business. Scaling is a business enterprise’s deliberate, long-term, controlled growth. To scale sustainably, you require a concerted effort coupled with a proper strategy, plan, and creativity. Therefore, you must also be prepared to tackle any risk or challenge that comes your way.
Here are seven ways to scale your business if you own a startup or a small enterprise.
1. Create A Plan
It would help if you had a comprehensive business plan to scale your business sustainably. It’ll act as your guide for any decision you make. A business plan should include the following:
- Executive summary
- Company description
- Market Analysis
- Organization and Management
- Products and services
- Target market
- Operations and logistics plan
- Financial plan
You must develop a business plan with a strategic marketing roadmap that foreshadows your future growth.
A good plan should indicate your business’s realistic revenue objectives for the next one, two, or more years. It should also outline the strategy you’ll use to increase your marketing capacity. And as you look at your plan, make sure it tells you your current position, where you want to be, your prospects, and the possible challenges.
2. Secure Funds For Growth And Sustainability
Scaling is costly, and you may have to determine the appropriate time to seek partnerships to maintain your cash flow. Partnerships and joint ventures can help secure the required capital before embarking on your growth plan. Trying to secure capital when your business takes off may leave you scrambling for funds to support it.
Armed with a concrete plan, seek out potential investors or partners interested in your venture. Expect some ups and downs since they may ask difficult questions, but ensure you exude confidence as you defend your plan. And the more you pitch, the more you increase your chance of securing an investor.
On the other hand, you can secure new capital through a comprehensive loan management system integrated with your business financing strategy.
Business loans can boost your scaling initiative. And if you’ve already established a stable client base, you can use it to determine your ability to repay your loan by calculating your projected income.
You may also factor in your paid and unpaid invoices to help your lenders decide if you qualify for the business loan. Credibly is one company at the forefront of helping small businesses secure financing; click here for small business factoring loans from them.
Some other sources of financing include:
- Angel investors
- Venture Capitalists
- Startup competitions
- Crowdfunding
- Friends and family
Decide which source will work for you and seek financial help to scale your business sustainably.
3. Automate Your Business
Manually tracking your business transaction takes time and effort. However, technological advancements have enabled business owners to automate their workflow and deliver their products and services quickly and effectively. So, if you desire to scale sustainably, install a customer management system. Your system choice depends on your line of work, but most systems integrate with cloud-based services. Therefore, it’s essential to find what works for you and use it accordingly. Managed cloud services can access at: https://www.buchanan.com/managed-cloud-services/ or other sources that can help you automate your business.
Moreover, if you’ve embraced social media marketing, think of installing a scripted response tool to handle the heavy traffic of inquiries from your client base. Other tools like live chat can help organize individual client chats and responses, providing a chance to meet each client’s needs.
Automating your business helps you track positive feedback, complaints, and conversion rates. Moreover, you can use it to determine which products are suited for a particular geographical location, age group, or class. It allows you to focus and specialize on what works for each group.
4. Know Your Customers
Understanding your client’s needs is essential for scaling a small enterprise. Constantly engage your customer base to understand their needs and the additional services they prefer. Engaging them will not only increase your income but also create a long-term business relationship that’s necessary for scaling the business.
You can engage them by checking reviews, conducting a quarterly survey, or during service delivery— whichever way, remember to request genuine feedback. Please pay attention to their grievances and use them to make internal changes, launch new products, or adjust accordingly.
Remember to pay attention to your competitor’s customer base. Conduct regular market analysis to ensure you’re continually updated with your competitor’s moves and how various market dynamics may impact your clientele. Combining your market analysis with customer feedback will expand your comprehension of the potential avenues of growth.
5. Use Social Media
Plunging into social media platforms can be scary, especially with the trolls you may encounter. But you can benefit if you scrutinize the trolls and use them to better your services. You can leverage these platforms to market your business. All you need to do is open an account, which is free, and grow a community of customers.
Don’t fall into a social media posting frenzy with fantastic videos, photos, texts, and replies. Create a consistent posting habit that your clients and followers can adapt to, then decide to engage them actively by reading comments, answering your inbox, and building your social brand.
Social media analytical tools are a significant way to identify current market dynamics and customer trends. Furthermore, paying for social media ads may help you access potential clients, evaluate their interests, and run a digital campaign. Embracing these platforms can be a great way to scale your business to immeasurable heights.
6. Networking
If you want to go far, go with people—a valuable adage for passionate small business owners eying success. As you seek to improve your brand, networking is necessary. Industrial events, symposiums, and other relevant social gatherings are a great way to build partnerships and networks that can drive your business to the next level.
If you’re into business-to-business (B2B) services), involving your community by attending events and conferences can be very significant. You may not showcase your product but follow, listen to, and connect with startups that correlate with your services. Who knows? That conference could be your turning point in life.
7. Outsource For Efficiency
You may only do some things for yourself, and you’ll need help at some point as you scale. Since your business is still growing, you may need more than full-time employees. Instead, you can outsource an agency or a freelancer to handle some of your business’s tasks. For example, you may be good at making your products but need to improve at social media marketing. In this case, professional outsourcing help will help you launch a sustainable campaign to boost your sales and give you adequate time to prepare the orders.
Outsourcing enables you to take advantage of opportunities as they arise instead of making long-term commitments that could become obsolete. As a startup, whenever you think of hiring a new employee, take a second to determine whether you need to complete a project or fill a position. Hire for jobs and outsource tasks; this will help you save on capital.
Conclusion
Scaling your small business enterprise is a challenging task. It would help to have a solid plan to guide your every move. The techniques outlined in this article can help you scale your business sustainably. But first, you need to secure funds for your startup through partnerships, loans, or family and friends. Then embark on marketing techniques such as social media campaigns to increase your sales. Remember to automate your business, establish connections, and outsource when necessary.
