More customers, more problems. Building a business from the ground up takes an enormous amount of dedication and hard work, but the problems do not stop coming once you have established yourself. They just change.
Growth brings a number of challenges to a business, and if you fail to adapt you run the risk of failing to take advantage of the expansion of your customer base. There are solutions out there, however.
Train Smart, Not Hard
Growing quickly can generate some unique problems. Businesses often lack the capacity to absorb the sudden expansion of demand and need to take on new employees or develop the ones they have in order to manage the influx of new customers. Training them can be expensive, and time consuming, putting extra pressure on finances and on the management team when there are many other concerns growing alongside the business.
With online training from Kallidus and their Learning Management System, you can train smarter, not harder. Staff can train at their own pace and online, helping businesses save time and money through Elearning using Kallidus’s LMS solution. This speeds up the training process for both new and existing employees without putting extra pressure on your company’s two most precious resources; time and money. It puts all the data in one place, allowing you and other members of the management team to track the development of your staff and plot their progression in your company.
Study The Enemy
It doesn’t matter what sector your business operates in, or what products or services you offer; you are in a competitive marketplace. Even if you are a locally focused company, there are national or global competitors in your area chasing the same sales you are. Look to the bigger players in your field, and to your immediate competition and see what you can learn. This can not only include what they do that you can copy but also what they don’t do that you can offer.
Bigger companies have had to handle the same challenges you are now and have found solutions. Study the competition with an extra focus on how they do things and why they do things the way that they do them. This can also help you identify flaws in their methodology that you can exploit to secure your share of the market while creating opportunities for further growth. Investigating the competition shows you the existing space in the marketplace for you to grow into, identifying your niche for you.
Manage The Managers
The smartest investment a growing business can make is in its management team. They have contributed to the growth you are enjoying and now is the perfect time to reassess their abilities and responsibilities. Analyse your management team and consider restructuring it to work to the strengths of the team you have. The structure you had as a small business is likely to break under the weight of your expansion and the team will have to grow and be reorganised to compensate for it.
It may be time for some members of the team to step up and take on new responsibilities. You may need to delegate some day-to-day management chores so you have more time to look at the bigger picture and manage the growing demands of the company. When you are restructuring the team find ways to help your star players grow with the company and invest in these assets with your time and your money. The returns you receive in the next few years will be worth the effort.
Deep Dive Into Your Data
Every business is generating data. Whether it is sales data, online marketing data, or productivity statistics, your company is creating a gold mine of information that is waiting for you to harvest it. There are some powerful and valuable insights hidden in your hard drives, and you have to sift through all of your data to find them. Small and medium sized businesses can use big data to increase revenue while reducing costs and find time and money saving efficiencies in their production processes.
This may require you to learn some new skills or invest in software such as a Customer Relationship Management suite that allows you to track customer interactions easily and break down sales statistics quickly. Analysing this data may allow you to speed up service, giving your customers added value while also increasing your capacity for sales. You should also be able to analyse consumer behaviour and find new ways to convert enquiries into sales, boosting your yield from your customers in the process. Data is becoming one of the most valuable resources in business as we move through the digital revolution.
Success is a blessing, but it also creates challenges. When you begin to grow as a business you have to be able to react quickly to changes and be willing to adapt to meet new demands. Prepare yourself and your staff for growth through training, understand the marketplace, and analyse your processes and resources to pivot into the right position to manage your growth and develop your company.
