A business that isn’t growing is a business that is standing still, and that’s the fastest way to fall behind your competition and lose out on potential revenue. However, it can be just as important to keep the pace going when your company is growing faster than you thought it would and failing to keep up has the same effect as not growing at all. What you need to do is to make certain that you are doing everything that you can to make sure that your customers, staff, and suppliers are getting the maximum benefit from your company and that you’re not using outdated and slow processes to keep up with growing demand. This handy list will guide you as to the best ways for you to keep up when your business is growing faster than your business plan.
Learn to delegate
A company growing quickly is great news, but it comes with a number of pitfalls that you need to be aware of. Increased workload can cause a damaging amount of pressure on you, so it’s important that you learn to delegate effectively. Delegation has a number of benefits, not least the fact that by giving key responsibilities to your select employees, you prove that you trust their competence to get the job done. This can lead to increased motivation and a higher level of productivity, whilst also ensuring that your staff feel appreciated. It also helps them to grow, and that can yield plenty of rewards as your business does the same.
Headhunting for those key skills
If your business has grown to the point where it is simply too much workload for your current staffing levels, then you’re going to need to hire more staff. How you do so is up to you, but there are some key points to consider once you have made your decision to take on new hires. The first is the question of sourcing them, and you may find that your best option is to look at your competitors and approach their mid to high-level staff with an offer that will entice them to join your ranks. If that feels a little underhand, then you should always consider recent graduates as an alternative to experienced professionals. While both have their benefits, recent graduates are not only bursting with enthusiasm but also have the most modern outlook and have been taught about the most recent changes to your industry sector.
Website optimization
If your website is struggling to cope with a sudden influx of traffic, then that’s going to not only slow down your online presence but also every other area of your business. There are a number of ways that you can increase the potential of your website, but the most beneficial is to make the decision to move to a new server. Although this may seem like an intimidating and risky process, it really isn’t as stressful as it sounds, and most hosting providers offer server migration as a free service. That leaves you free to continue managing your company as your website transitions to a more capable server, all without the risk of data loss or a time period where your site is unavailable.
Manage your growth
Not every company wants to grow quickly, and it’s easy to see why. Your business growth should be following your initial business plan, and with unexpected growth comes an increase in stress. The best way to cope with that is to be patient and not exceed your grasp. If you’ve been looking at new premises and are now justified in making the decision to expand, that doesn’t mean that you should leap into the first viable option. Take the time to discuss your needs with the relevant parties and be patient. The pressure of a fast-growing business means that you can all too easily make a fast decision that can come back to bite you in the future, so take the time to negotiate on terms and prices, and you will find that managing your unexpected growth can be significantly less stress-inducing.
The key to rapid growth is to constantly check your cash-flow projections on a regular basis and ensure that your costs do not exceed your profits. Take advantage of your growth but always keep in mind your limitations and expected workload, and you’ll find your stress levels and ability to cope become far easier to manage.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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