On the MailGuard blog we consistently promote an understanding of the cloud and how it can help with growing your business. John Corias takes a broader approach to this idea; identifying a few key boxes to tick before your business is ready to grow.
The prospect of expanding beyond a home or small office operation is something that quite often stirs at the heart of many small business owners. Any small business owner that’s had a taste of success will have contemplated ramping up their business in one way or another.
Rapid business growth can be an exciting time for small businesses with all manner of opportunities and connections being met and actioned. Whilst this is wonderful, growing too rapidly can also be a time of great danger and can even lead to the demise of many a small business. With that in mind lets take a look at just a few of the key areas that must be carefully considered and planned for before expansion plans are put in place.
Does your business have the room to grow?
No matter what business you run, you will have a physical workspace, anything from a home office to a large warehouse. Can you grow where you are, or do you need to expand upon your location? Perhaps this is not possible in your present location and a move to new premises is in order. This opens up a can of worms, in terms of cancelling leases, finding new premises in a suitable location and the associated costs. Legal fees and moving expenses can be a substantial drain on cash resources and time taken away from actually running the business. Moving may be a necessity before expansion, but can you afford the short term drain on time and cash resources?
Keep staff involved
When it comes to staffing, small businesses often rely on current staff to play a large role in the expansion, it makes sense to do so given their inside knowledge of the business operations. However, business owners must be careful not to put undue stresses and pressure on current staff and risk burnout or having critical errors made due to long hours. Keeping staff involved in the expansion and growth of a business gives them a sense of ownership and creates a great team that will work together and feed off the growth to inspire further growth down the track. Bringing on new staff must be managed carefully, time must be taken to ensure they are fully informed of where the business is going and the plans you have, smooth integration into the current workforce is a must. Don’t neglect their training in your haste to expand otherwise you risk losing good staff or potentially damaging relations with existing customers.
Continue reading to find out if your business is ready to grow >>
