“Scalability is one of the most important factors for entrepreneurs considering starting a new business or hoping to take a current business to the next level. Successful business growth depends on a scalable business model that will increase profits over time, by growing revenue while avoiding cost increases.” – Entrepreneur.com
A scalable business should be equipped to deal with increasing demand, based on a decision on what you want to become not where you are. Scaling a business is about ability and capacity. It is about- Will the teams, business systems and infrastructure be capable to adapt growth and more.
Imagine Danica is passionate about all things makeup and starts a small business as Makeup artist from home. Danica starts getting random customers from her neighbourhood and college which helps her cover the costs.
She starts posting her makeup bytes on Instagram and in no time gains 5k followers. She starts trending on today’s millennials favorite social media site and suddenly receives numerous bookings. Since she has no team & resources and a realistic business plan for future., she has to shut down her business.
Many budding entrepreneurs are uncertain about scaling their business growth like Danica. Here are some proven tips from experts to help them pave the way forward:
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Being futuristic & growth-oriented is the key
If you know where you want to see your business in next 5 years, you will be able to align your strategies towards the vision. You need to create a business roadmap that can include acquiring new customers, retaining existing ones, adopting new technologies, brand recognition and more.
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Know where you are currently
Now when you have a goal to reach, you need a detailed planning. But before you plan, you need to know a few things-
- Know your hero products, their market share, profitability idea and more
- Know that you are making the best use of technology and automation for best results
- Know your current capacity of staff, equipment, tools, skills and more
- Get a tentative idea of business performance. Takes costs, cash flow and working capital into consideration
- Know the kind of resources you would need to maintain and elevate your current business growth
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Work on the planning to reach the vision
Since you understand what you are trying to achieve, now it’s time to create the plan.
Check your financial reports to check the margins
- Is your business earning profits?
- Do competition mapping to find out if your pricing is in connection with your competitors
- Know if is it time to increase your prices?
A small rise in pricing can make a big progress to the bottom line.
- Customer Retention- Keep the customers coming back
While acquiring new customers is quite an expensive process, retaining existing customers is worthwhile and much easier. Get a 360-degree view of your customers, know their pain points, predict their next best action, send relevant communication, and offers to existing customers.
- Analyze your processes
Sharpen your processes. Look for ways to increase efficiency level, decrease costs and boost your business performance. Assess if you have the right and enough people? Are they capable to do things at their utmost capacity? Analyze before proceeding further.
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Make Time
While growing a business, you need to manage the time of day-to-day business. Begin with strategizing by keeping the vision in mind.
Some quick tips:
- Delegate or outsource the tasks
- Create a project plan and divide it into a timeline with milestones
- Use a priority matrix
Start your journey to build a scalable business. Get in touch with Sapphire’s experts today!
Sapphire Info Solutions is one of the early adopters of cloud computing. Apart from using all cloud-based accounting systems such as SAGE, IRIS, Xero, QuickBooks etc., they have hosted their in-house job-portal on the cloud enabling greater productivity & customer satisfaction. Sapphire Outsourcing is pioneer in adopting new technologies to help you achieve digital transformation in your accounting department.
