There is generally confusion between scaling a business and growing a business, but these are two distinct concepts. Taking a successful startup or creating a new business is not a definition of scaling a business. Scaling your business means you can handle growth without suffering in other areas. Here are steps you can take into consideration while thinking to scale your business.
Think Big and Act Boldly
Before anything to start or act, one needs to think big but here thinking big does not mean daydreaming. Virtual imagination won’t work to scale a business but the implementation of the right idea at the right time will give a great result. If you have currently 50 crore of business, then why can’t it be a 100 crore company? But just imaging or thinking is of no use, so you have to make a bold decision to implement. Surround yourself with a good mentor, right team, right strategy and right idea and then pull the trigger.
Know Your Purpose
When you know your purpose and the same you communicate successfully to your team, is the way to drive growth in an organic manner because your employee’s loyalty will create a great job of spreading the word and retain their enthusiasm for your company. Employees are loyal to companies whose purpose and values align with their own, so they can feel their careers have a higher purpose. If you succeed in knowing why of going into business, your journey of scaling business will be easy.
Develop a Business Map
Most people or businessmen know about business plans or may be at some point of their life they have made business plans. But have you thought about a business map? Business maps are an effective, comprehensive way for scaling a business and meeting its goals. Creating a business map prompts you to ask foundational questions such as: What business are you really in? What was your reason for getting into this business in the first place?
Business map will help you to document your goals, you can revisit your planning, encourage and challenge you to look at where you came from, define your purpose for starting business and look ahead, What’s next for your business, and where does your company ideally end up? This serves as a reference for when times get tough.
Build a Strong Team and Learn to Delegate
It sounds ordinary but building a strong team is a prerequisite for scaling a business because you cannot be a one man army to handle each and every thing. Developing a management team that is flexible and can grow with the company is an important component when it comes to learning how to scale a business.
When you have a strong team, and you have enough trust in them to delegate many important tasks, so you can work “on” the business instead of “in” it. However, as a business owner, you want to feel like you’re involved in every aspect of your company and will sometimes have a hard time letting go in certain areas. To really learn how to scale a business, you must delegate tasks to those on your team. What are you doing that someone else could handle?
Your business has to be able to run itself and thrive even when you’re not there. Don’t keep some stereotype belief such as “If I want something done right, I have to do it myself” but establish delegation habits that allow you to own your time.
Build Your Brand
When you think of a phone it must be Apple in your mind. Steve Jobs was a master at creating a bigger than life public profile. You need to do the same. Remember, your brand will also set the tone for your company’s culture as you scale your business. It will set the standard for how you make your hires and will help you establish the kind of client experience you want. It will impact marketing, sales and design efforts, and it will influence the kind of company you ultimately become.
We no longer live in a B2B or B2C world. It is people-to-people (P2P) and because you’re the leader of your company, other people customers, investors, advisors, and strategic partners want to know you.
Continue to Learn, Adapt and Innovate
If you do not want to change or adopt new things or learn new things then it will be a big hurdle in your dream of scaling your business. The truth is, learning how to scale a business is never impossible, but you may need to change what you’re doing if you want to scale successfully. In business or life, if you are not growing then you will die but do not change your company just for sake of change. When you strategically align your choices with your ultimate purpose, scaling your business will come easily. Take the time and do it right.
