So, you’ve managed to get a small business up and running to the point that it’s officially too big for the home to handle. That is, of course, a cause for celebration if ever there was one. However, it’s also a call for some caution. Making the step of scaling the business can be risky, so here are a few tips to make your ascension a little safer.
Welcoming a team
You might have worked with freelancers in the past, but let’s just establish that making the move from occasionally working with others to constantly being responsible for them is a big step. If you find yourself needing more people to meet all the responsibilities in business, you’re going to need to put together a proper recruitment process. A good way to learn more about how to do that is to work with a recruitment firm and to glean, from them, how to open vacancies, how to vet and interview team members, and how to onboard them.
The tech question
When moving into a new phase of business, growing to incorporate new people and new duties, you’re going to find that your laptop is no longer enough to run it. You’re going to need a real IT scope to outfit your team with the tech they need, and you’re going to need an IT team to manage it and make sure they’re not always slowing or breaking down. IT consulting can help you learn what tech you need to implement. It can also help you respond to emergency needs since it’s likely you won’t have the need to hire a full-time IT team of your own just yet.
Setting new targets
You might feel like you’ve achieved a lot, and you have, but with the new scale of the business comes new costs. You can’t sit and count your victories just yet, you have to hit the ground running. For that reason, you should start immediately looking for ways to make the business grow. New targets, such as getting a certain amount of customers or reaching a certain amount of repeating revenue, will give you something to work towards, setting a direction for you and any new members to the team to follow.
The stigma of small business
Perhaps you’ve already faced it but, as you continue to grow your business, you are more likely to find yourself competing with established and known names in the industry. When comparing smaller businesses to those, there does tend to be something of a stigma you have to face. Fake it until you make it is often the advice to go with here. For instance, instead of answering the phone yourself, having a virtual receptionist answer for you makes it seem like the team is a bit bigger than it really is.
With the tips above, you should hopefully be a little more prepared for some of the challenges that can come your way. However, you should also trust in yourself. If you’re able to grow a business this far, then you’re clearly doing some right, so keep it up.