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Scaling Up Your Business – Simple Steps to Smarter Growth

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Scaling Up Your Business - Simple Steps to Smarter Growth

Scaling your business is both exciting and challenging. As you set your sights on growth, it’s crucial to lay a strong foundation. This foundation determines how smoothly your business can expand and how well it can adapt to increased demand.

Before diving into specific strategies, take a moment to assess where your business stands today. Understanding your current strengths and areas for improvement will give you a clearer picture of the next steps. Remember, scaling is not just about growing bigger—it’s about growing smarter. Let’s dive into the simple steps that will pave the way for your smarter growth.

Determining Your Business’s Growth Readiness

Growth is often the goal, but is your business truly ready for it? Before scaling up, it’s vital to conduct a self-assessment. Start by evaluating your financial health. Do you have enough capital to support expansion, or will you need external funding? Next, consider your operational capacity. Can your current systems and processes handle increased volume, or will they require upgrades?

Your team plays a crucial role too. Ensure they’re prepared for the demands of a larger operation. This might mean investing in training or hiring more staff. Feedback is a valuable resource, so tap into insights from your customers and employees. Their experiences can spotlight areas that need attention before growth. It’s also wise to study your competition. Understand where they excel and where they falter. This gives you a competitive edge and highlights potential pitfalls to avoid.

Lastly, revisit your business goals and vision. Ensure that scaling aligns with your long-term plans. If there’s a misalignment, it may be worth reconsidering or adjusting your growth strategy. Being proactive in your assessment sets the stage for sustainable expansion, positioning your business for success in the long run.

Building a Scalable Team

The success of your business scaling efforts largely depends on your team. It’s not just about increasing the number of employees; it’s about ensuring that every new member aligns with your business values and goals. When you’re on the lookout for new talent, prioritize individuals who are adaptable and can wear multiple hats, especially in a rapidly changing environment.

Beyond technical skills, cultural fit is critical. Your employees need to mesh well with your company’s ethos, ensuring that the team remains cohesive even as it grows. This cohesiveness is what will keep operations running smoothly during periods of rapid expansion.

Training your team also plays a pivotal role. Invest in regular training sessions to keep your team updated with the latest industry trends and best practices. This proactive approach helps in reducing potential roadblocks in the future.

Remember, hiring decisions today will impact your business tomorrow. Take the time to thoroughly vet candidates, emphasizing soft skills and adaptability. Retention should be a priority too. Create an environment where your employees feel valued and have opportunities for growth. By focusing on building a scalable team, you’re laying the foundation for your business to thrive during growth phases.

The Benefits of Outsourcing IT During Growth

As a business scales, there’s a noticeable uptick in IT requirements. While there’s an instinct to handle every detail internally, outsourcing specific IT tasks can offer distinct advantages. At the forefront is the cost-saving aspect. Opting for external IT services can reduce overheads linked to recruiting permanent IT staff, procuring high-end tools, and consistent infrastructure upkeep.

But it’s not just about cutting costs. An external IT partner brings specialized knowledge to the table, ensuring you’re harnessing the power of the latest tech innovations without diving deep into every emerging trend. Their teams, composed of individuals with varied expertise, offer solutions tailored to your diverse needs. Thriveon Managed IToffers managed IT services that can scale up and down with your business and take a proactive stance on data security.

Data security, a pressing issue for many companies, is another area where outsourcing shines. External IT experts often have advanced measures and tools at their disposal to protect your critical data, especially when compared to an internal team whose primary focus might not be IT.

Adaptability is yet another perk. As your enterprise evolves, so do your IT demands. Outsourcing offers the flexibility to adjust services based on shifting needs, all without the challenges of onboarding or upskilling staff. In essence, outsourcing IT management lets businesses concentrate on their core competencies, leaving tech intricacies to the experts.

Scaling your business is a transformative process that requires careful planning, strategic thinking, and a keen eye on sustainability. From laying a solid foundation to ensuring you have the right people on board and considering the value of outsourcing certain tasks, every decision contributes to your growth trajectory. It’s essential to remain proactive, regularly assess your strategies, and adjust when necessary.

Remember, growth isn’t just about expansion; it’s about ensuring that your business continues to thrive and serve its purpose efficiently. By implementing the insights and strategies discussed, you’re well on your way to achieving smarter, more sustainable growth for your enterprise. Stay committed, stay informed, and most importantly, believe in your vision. Success is within your grasp.

How to Make Your Money Grow in Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Growing Your Business|How to Make Your Money Grow in Business Making money as an entrepreneur has so much to do with your ability to identify opportunities and make the most of them. If you’ve started a business in the first place, then this means you’ve found a gap in the market that you can fill. In light of this, you should always be thinking about how you can grow beyond where you are and ultimately increase your reach and income further. There are several ways to achieve this, and all require you to get out of your comfort zone. If you consider that being uncomfortable is typically where all of the magic happens, then you’ll be more enthusiastic about exploring new territory. Below are practical ways to make your money grow in business.

Be Frugal

Just because you’re making money as a business, it doesn’t mean that you have to spend it at the same pace. It is crucial that you learn to manage your money and be frugal if you want to see your money experience steady growth financially. To be a frugal CEO, here are three approaches you could take.

Budget on Office Set Up: When setting up your office, it can be tempting to go all out. However, spending exorbitant amounts on furnishing isn’t necessarily going to give you the best return on your investment. Instead, look for ways to furnish on a budget such as by getting furniture that is slightly used or on clearance. The charity shop often also has fairly used or even new furniture that you can get at an affordable rate. Ask around to see how you can find affordable functional furniture so that you save space and money.

Control Legal Fees: Every business needs a lawyer but be careful not to spend too much on legal fees. These fees can eat out of your finances if they aren’t carefully managed. Focus on setting clear expectations with your lawyer before meetings, especially when their cost per hour is high. In some cases, you may even find that it’s better to pay on a per project instead of an hourly basis.

Monitor Cash Flow: As above use a fixed monthly fee accountant to keep your cash flow up to date on a monthly basis. 3 in 4 startups who do not monitor cash flow fail whilst 3 in 4 who do monitor their cash flow succeed. Be sure to shop around to find an accountant at the right cost.

DIY Marketing and PR: Aside from the mentioned, you should also make the most of the cost-effectiveness of digital marketing. Instead of hiring a PR firm in the early stages, try doing the pitching yourself to begin with. Doing this could also help build both trust and a good rapport which are tools that will get your business far. Social platforms are also ideal ways to get your brand out there without spending thousands on advertising too.

Consider Mixed Use Development

Mixed-use development is a way to grow your money as an entrepreneur. In case you’ve never heard about it before, in summary, it refers to buildings that have multiple units that are used for different purposes which are usually residential as well as commercial. You may be wondering how exactly this could benefit you as an entrepreneur. How it would work is that you could buy one or more mixed-use buildings and run your business in the commercial area while you live in, lease out or sell the other units. This could serve as a great business opportunity so read more here to find out how you could go about doing it.

Offer New Products and Services

Another straightforward way to make your money grow when running a business is to offer new products and services. Learn from the performance of your current range meaning you should do more of what’s working and improve on what isn’t. If, for instance, your customers seem to love a certain product, take the feedback and see how you can create something even better. Here are a few tips to consider when you want to launch a new product or service.

Ensure it Solves a Problem

Whether you’re launching your second or tenth product or service, you want to be certain that it solves a problem. If you look at some of the most successful ones you know, you’ll notice that they make people’s lives easier in one way or another. Creating a product that sells is about making something that’s simple, interesting, meaningful, entertaining, and long-lasting. The more value that it adds, the more likely it will do well in the market.

Build Buzz

Before launching a new product, it’s so essential that you first take the time out to build buzz. This is key as you want to build excitement and get people to anticipate this product and the value it could add to their lives. By doing this, you’re more likely to get the kind of response you want form customers and prospects.

Devise a Strong Strategy

A product launch strategy will help you map out how to launch your product from start to finish. Start by doing this as it will work as a guiding force to help you execute your plan. When you have an effective strategy in place, you’re less likely to miss out on important elements of a product launch and also more likely to prevent major mistakes. With that being said, there are several templates you can use online to help you flesh out your strategy.

Have a Growth Strategy

Earlier on, it was mentioned that you should have a strategy for launching a product, but you should note that you also need one if you want to grow. When you have a growth strategy in place, you’ve got a better idea of where you’re going as a business and how you’re going to get there. You may decide that you’re going to start with one product for the first year and then diversify your income as a business in the second year of operating, for instance. It’s essential that you think through what direction you want to grow in, so you put measures in place to ensure that you get there.

Every business has to steadily grow if they want to remain in business and expand on to do bigger and better things. However, in order to see the growth you want, you’ve got to commit to learning and trying new strategies.

3 Tips for Taking Your Small Business to the Next Level

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Small Business |3 Tips for Taking Your Small Business to the Next LevelSmall businesses today have a lot of obstacles that they need to be able to overcome. The world of business has always been ruthless and punishing to those that aren’t prepared for it. However, even the smallest of businesses have the potential to grow into titans, as long as they play the game correctly. Making the right moves isn’t easy, and even if you do everything right, it doesn’t mean you will necessarily achieve your goals.

However, there are a number of things you can do to give your business the best chance possible of surviving in the long term. Here are just some of the ways that you can take your business to the next level and ensure that you are able to keep growing it long into the future.

Have a Plan

When you first launch your business, you will hopefully have a business plan. This plan will lay out exactly what you plan to do with your business, as well as how it will operate in general. Business plans also contain lots of projections for the future.

As time goes on, you will learn whether those projections turn out to be accurate or not. You should update your business plan regularly and ensure that your plans for the future take into account everything that has come before.

Keep Your Expenses Down

Every business has expenses; they are often unavoidable and there’s not a lot you can do about them. However, while you will find it impossible to eliminate many of your expenses, there are plenty of things you can do to keep those expenses as low as you possibly can. Saving even small amounts of money can ultimately amount to some very considerable savings in the long run.

Any products or services that your business uses on a regular basis can potentially be targeted for savings. In some cases, making savings in key areas is associated with a dramatic boost to your overall efficiency. For example, switching to a different payment processor can reduce the cost of each transaction, a small increase on each transaction can be a significant boost over the year.

Make sure to check for online reviews of any processor you consider, stick to reviews that go into some detail about the processor you are considering. This review of BlueSnap by Merchant Maverick is a good example.

Put the Customer First

It doesn’t matter what your job is, what industry you work in or what your long-term goals are. You will have your best chance of success when you are putting special focus on the customer experience. In today’s world, customers always have other options; you need to make them choose your business because you are offering something that your competitors aren’t.

You don’t need a huge business with fully-staffed departments to improve your customer experience. You just need to make sure that you are getting the right feedback from your customers.

If you are at the helm of a small business, you will no doubt have your eyes set on higher goals. Learning to prioritize the right aspects of your business is the key to reaching those higher goals.

Why Committing to Becoming 1% Better Every Day Can Turn Everything around

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Pursuit of Excellence|Why Committing to Becoming 1% Better Every Day Can Turn Everything aroundEveryone wants to achieve a degree of excellence in their lives, whether that means developing a killer business that takes the industry by storm, and revolutionises how things are done, or whether it means being the best possible spouse, parent, or friend we can be.

To that end, it pretty much goes without saying that, at any given time, hordes of people are doing their best to carry out ambitious plans for self-development, in the pursuit of that elusive and much-craved “excellence.”

Does your business involve a decent degree of marketing? Then, no doubt, you’re interested in applying next level channel marketing strategies to really kick things up a notch. Are you perhaps not in the best physical shape of your life, but really want to be? Then, you’re probably also one of the millions of people who sign up for the gym each January, in order to make good on a New Year’s resolution to get fit.

The only problem is, it’s actually legitimately difficult to become “excellent” in any given domain. Not only that, but it’s typically difficult even knowing how to begin setting about pursuing excellence in many dimensions of life.

The thing about big plans is that they are difficult to execute, difficult to keep track of, and are prone to all sorts of hiccups and mishaps along the way. It’s for this reason, among others, that Scott Adams – the famous creator of the Dilbert comics – advises that people should forget about goals altogether, and should focus on “systems” instead.

According to Adams, “systems” are the daily routines and rituals that you act out, that move you closer to success and prosperity in a given area; whereas goals are about setting a target for some point in the future, and then living in a state of permanent dissatisfaction and disappointment, as a result.

There are good critiques to be made of Adams anti-goal stance. But, there’s no denying that focusing on certain daily “systems” can be a powerful way of achieving excellence in work and life.

One “system” that has been promoted by many serious business and lifestyle gurus, is the pursuit of becoming “1% better” in a given area, each day.

Here are a few reasons why committing to becoming 1% better every day may turn everything around for you.

Because it’s a realistic scale of achievement and progress

To use the analogy of fitness, once more – setting yourself a goal like “I’m going to run an ultramarathon,” when you currently can’t even jog 1 mile without wheezing – or setting yourself a goal like “I’m going to bench press 300 pounds,” when you currently can’t even do a single push-up – may well not be the most productive way forward.

Among other things, setting yourself these kinds of major, ambitious goals right out the gate, puts you in a position where the scale of achievement and progress you’re aiming for is extremely difficult to conceptualise, or believe in.

It’s not that you can’t achieve those feats – it’s just that, until you get closer, you may struggle immensely to “believe in” them, or to feel satisfied by the progress you’re making along the path.

Striving to become “1% better each day,” on the other hand, represents a realistic scale of achievement and progress that just about everyone can believe in, regardless of where they’re starting off from.

Of course, “1%” isn’t a perfectly mathematical calculation, here. It’s just a euphemism for making really small, but consistent, improvements every day. Perhaps you went for a 10-minute jog yesterday, and felt exhausted. So, today, try to go for an 11-minute jog. this will be achievable for you, and you will feel good about achieving it, too. Then, tomorrow, you can go for a 12-minute jog. And so on.

After a year, you’re likely to be in such a dramatically superior position in life, that it’s hard to believe how far you’ve come.

Because momentum is a large part of what success in business is all about

Success in business, specifically, has plenty to do with things like innovation, and hard work, but there’s a good argument to be made that the most important skill for any aspiring entrepreneur, is simple grit, determination, and consistency.

Of course, this applies to just about everything else in life, too. It’s rarely the people who come out with a single dramatic “flash in the pan” burst of hard work who really innovate and transform things, and secure themselves a place in the annals of history.

Far more often, it’s the people who turn up to work every day, whether or not they feel like it, and who keep iterating and optimising, and moving forward, until things come together.

Focusing on becoming 1% better every day is a great way of building that sort of momentum, and of developing the kind of “staying power” that can really move mountains over time.

Striving to become 1% better every day is also a great antidote to the all-too-common tendency of many aspiring entrepreneurs, to want to spend an inordinate amount of time at the “drawing board,” as opposed to actually making things happen.

When you know that it’s about the journey along the road of incremental improvement, rather than the “single miraculous action,” you give yourself permission to actually get started, and work out the kinks along the way.

Because it will prevent you from backsliding

Setbacks inevitably happen, and you’re not always going to be in a better position, business-wise, today than you were yesterday.

All the same, one of the great things of striving to become 1% better every day, is that it puts you in a great frame of mind to avoid backsliding, and to fight against the ever-present threat of entropy.

Even if a crisis situation occurs in your business, and puts you on the back foot, striving to become 1% better will keep you pointed upwards, and will remove your excuses for compromising, or taking the easy way out.

Ultimately, guarding yourself against the tendency to backslide is just as important as anything else, when it comes to consistency and the pursuit of excellence.

Effective Strategies For Business Growth

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StrategyDriven Strategic Planning Article|Business Growth|Effective Strategies For Business Growth As a business owner, you will always want to be making strides forward to help your company to grow and reach the next level. Knowing how to go about doing this can be challenging once you have found some initial success and it is here where businesses often plateau and find themselves treading water. It is crucial at this time to use positive momentum to keep pushing forward as this can have a significant impact on the success of the company. There are many effective strategies for growing a business in any industry so consider any of the following when you are ready to take the next step.

Increase Marketing Efforts

Marketing is vital to success and the more that you do, the more likely you are to boost sales. Increasing your marketing efforts can raise brand awareness, increase visibility online and drive more traffic to your company website. For the best results, it is worth using the services of a reliable internet marketing agency who will be able to provide services such as:

  • SEO
  • PPC
  • Content marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Email marketing

In addition to internet marketing, think about how more traditional forms could also be used to boost brand awareness. Many businesses also find it helpful to get involved with the local community by attending events, hosting their events, sponsorship, etc.

Market Research

Times change quickly in business which means that market research can quickly become outdated. Carrying out new market research will help a company to discover crucial new information about their target customer and the competition which could help them to identify gaps in the market and other ways to succeed.

It is crucial that you aim to keep a keen eye on the competition to determine their strengths and weaknesses and how you can use this information to your advantage.

Add To Your Range

Leading on from this, adding to your product/service range can be an effective strategy for attracting new customers and retaining loyal, existing ones. Consider any gaps in the market and problems that your target customer faces and find a way to solve these issues. This can breathe new life into the business and help you to target an entirely new group.

Form A Strategic Alliance

Similarly, teaming with a complementary company will help you to tap into an entirely new market. A strategic alliance works when two complementary companies who are not competitors strike up a professional relationship where one supports the other. This is often through recommending the brand to its customer base with potential discounts/deals for referrals.

The key to success with a strategic alliance is finding a suitable company as, in addition to not being a competitor, it must also be a brand that shares similar values to your own.

Invest In New Technology & Software

Technology is evolving at such a continuous, rapid rate that it often means that what you are currently using is out of date. Updating to new tech can be costly, but it could have a significant impact on your company by streamlining the operation, automating specific tasks, reducing errors and improving the quality of the end product or service.

Professional Development

No company can succeed without a talented, passionate and motivated workforce powering the operation. Therefore, investing in your workforce with professional development is a terrific way to grow your company from within. Employees will want to find ways to progress and to offer these opportunities internally can boost morale and promote employee loyalty. Listen to the wishes of your staff and consider training, seminars, and courses that will improve their abilities and enable them to excel in their role.

Global Expansion

One of the biggest and most exciting methods for growing a business is international expansion. This can be a complicated and expensive process but the potential for profits are gigantic, and it can be incredibly rewarding and glamorous to open up offices in a different country.

One of the major logistical issues with this approach is staffing, and you are likely to want a few team members to relocate overseas. Implementation in global mobility is a difficult process, but some businesses can handle this aspect for you. This way, you can focus on other areas; you can find more information here.

Improve Your Customer Service

One of the most overlooked (and under-invested) areas of business, yet one of the most important for success, is customer service. People like to use companies that they respect and trust, and it can be much easier to retain loyal, existing customers than to find brand new ones. Improving your customer service will help to keep customers, strengthen your brand reputation and you should also benefit from word-of-mouth marketing which remains incredibly effective.

Improving your customer service will involve going the extra mile for customers, solving issues quickly and letting customers know that they are valued. You can also encourage loyalty through the use of loyalty programs which will show that you care about your customer and appreciate their business.

Streamline The Operation

It can feel risky to make changes to how you operate when you are running a profitable business, but it is also one of the most effective methods to grow a business. Carefully assess every single process and work with relevant department heads to determine if it is necessary and if there is a way that could be improved – even a small change could have a significant impact on the efficiency of the operation.

This will often involve finding ways to reduce costs as this enables you to maximize profit. There are many ways to reduce business costs to consider, including switching to alternative energy, going paperless, renegotiating rates with vendors and encouraging remote working.

If you are ready and committed to taking the next step with your business, then consider any or all of the above. It is essential always to be moving forward in the business world as otherwise you will fall behind to the competition and struggle to succeed. Growth can be challenging, but it is also an exciting process which could help you to maximize profit and dominate the industry.