Our clients come to us for business advice and a plan for how to scale up. To take their business to the next level, often because they are stuck. Some of our clients even feel scared by the prospect. Here are some practical ideas to get you started.
Make sure you are ready and prepared to scale up.
Have you done your homework? Do you know your numbers? Do you have cashflow to support the growth you are contemplating? Have you established funding with your bank? It will be easier to acquire a loan if you have done the preparation work and prepared a Business Plan. You can then present a convincing case to your bank.
Identify the barriers and risks for scaling up
Once you have prepared your business plan for scaling up, identify the risks and think about what roadblocks you could face. These could be lack of qualified staff and suitable leadership or unsuitable premises.
Be crystal clear in your vision and goals in scaling up
In preparing for scaling up you need to be crystal clear in your end goal. Make decisions based on that end goal and not on your present position. If you continue to make decisions based on the turnover of a $300K business, they are going to be very different from a business that turns over $5M to $10M per annum. If your goal and vision is to be a $10M dollar business, then you need to start thinking like one.
Scaling up your business you need to build a strong team and have empathy with them. In scaling up you need to build a winning team. What are the ingredients of a winning team? What are the ingredients of an effective team?
Leadership
Understanding the qualities, you need as a leader of that team. One of the big mistakes people in business make is believing that managing and leading are the same. Management focuses on maintaining systems and processes while leadership is about influencing people to follow. To scale up you are probably going to need more staff. These will be new to you and your business. You are going to need to train them and build a rapport with them and make them aware of the culture of your business. It is important that you create the right culture and a place where people want to work and excel. As a leader it is your job to encourage and motivate your team if the scaling up of your business is going to be successful.
Systems, Policy and Procedures
In scaling up your business it is important that you have good systems in place and comprehensive Policy and Procedures for your team to follow. It is important to hire the right people in scaling up who will follow systems, policy, and procedures. Have open dialogue and ensure your employees feel free to make suggestions for improvements, this will help in growing and scaling your business.
Outsource Some of Your Tasks
Scaling up involves not only growth in your revenue but to have growth in profits.
One of the ways to control your overheads is to outsource certain aspects of your business. Hiring
your own staff can be expensive, paying superannuation, workers compensation and possibly payroll
tax. You might not only get many aspects of your business done at a much lower cost but can get the
benefit of a wide knowledge bank from all around the world.
Pace
Do not Scale Your Business Too Rapidly. It is very tempting to start to rapidly scale your business in times of growth. It makes sense to reinvest some of those profits in the business. The problem is, continuity of
growth month-on-month is not sustainable. The moment that growth stops or falters you are stuck with the additional overhead you have put on for scaling up and growth you expected.
Osborne Yuille Group has been helping businesses scale for over 40 years. Our unique offer of
advisory, coaching and accountancy becomes a potent weapon in your battle to grow your business.
To speak obligation-free to a specialist coach or accountant, call 1300 727 082 or send a private
message via our website here and we will be in touch.
