Some people have a mindset that a business grows slowly and steadily, like a plant. However, growth in business comes in leaps, bounds, regressions, and plateaus. There’s no such thing as a linear progression, because as you expand, there is more heavy investment, greater risk, and more to lose (and win!). Decisions are made based on projections that may or may not come true, and the rewards, or failure, can be tremendous.
However, don’t let the fear of risk keep you from reaching the next stepping stone your business has to reach. Here are some tricky moments you will have to get through in order to graduate from being a small business to a medium sized one.
Employing a Team
When you are working alone, or with a team of consultants/freelancers, you don’t feel quite the same level of responsibility to them. But to really grow your business as a brand, you will need to build a team of dedicated employees and create a work culture that will reflect your values. With hiring on people comes a whole slew of new issues: recruitment, payroll, taxes, insurance, and more. On top of the paperwork headache, you need to provide a place for them to work, equipment like computers, machines, space for whatever your industry requires, and policies around things like work culture, vacation times, and outlining roles and responsibilities. This is a huge jump but one that most business owners report as positive and revolutionary to their business.
Growing into a New Space
Going from your basement or garage to a co-working space is already a huge jump. Now imagine your own company headquarters, retail space, workshop, studio, or warehouse. The demands of your business will change as you grow and some of the “DIY” solutions that you had before just won’t cut it. Keep a commercial realtor close who will be able to give you the scoop when something interesting comes up and keep one step ahead of what you need. While signing the dotted line on a lease for a space that has a large monthly sum associated with it can be nerve-racking, don’t let it limit you. Make sure that the contract is as flexible as you need it to be for where you are in your phase of growth.
IT Solutions
You might have started your business with a business plan stored on a Google Drive or done your initial bookkeeping in Excel, but as your business grows, so will your IT needs. Contact a provider in business IT solutions that will be able to create a comprehensive plan for your current and upcoming needs. From cloud storage, company digital infrastructure, IT monitoring and more, these are services that you can outsource to the experts so that you can continue to expand on your core business services.
Delegating
This is more of a mindset change that you will have to grow into as the business expands and perhaps the only thing that will happen organically. As there are more and more tasks that will need to be done and still a constant number of hours in the day, your brain will start to process that no man is an island that you need help- whether outsourcing out, or hiring talent in. Even in your personal life, you will find yourself delegating more things to others so that you can focus on things that must be done by you.
Growing is a frightening, albeit exciting part of owning a business. Remember that these “problems” are positive ones to have and it means that what you are doing is working well!