Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together. (James Cash Penney, Founder of JCPenney)
There are many examples that I can provide in relation to businesses that grow revenue quickly without keeping an eye on important ingredients such as customer satisfaction, quality, risk and cash. Similarly, I can tell you about many business owners who would love to grow their already solid business but do not have the right systems and processes in place and are too risk averse to challenge their status quo. The truth is, growing a business is possible for all of us if we put in place the right plan and execute on it with the right people focused on the right things.
Managing business growth effectively is a key component in ensuring the long-term success of your business. Mismanaged success can often lead to the demise of a business as the growth in prosperity outpaces the business’s ability to handle this growth.
How does this happen? Quite often business growth will shine a light on the areas within the business that simply cannot keep up. Management system flaws may be revealed. Quality control might falter. Different elements can create a tipping point that sees the infrastructure of the business fail to grow at the same rate of sales, causing the overall system to collapse.
Therefore, it is vital that a responsive approach to balance between increased sales and inevitable organisational and managerial changes is maintained.
While business growth is one of the best challenges to have, it requires a strong business strategy and effective management to ensure it converts into long-term sustainable success.
Here are ten strategies to help you manage business growth effectively for your organisation:
One: Keep listening to your customers
Never stop listening to your customers, as they are the most relevant source of ideas and feedback. They will also be the first to tell you (either vocally or via a lack of retention) if your systems are failing to keep pace with your growth.
Two: Surround yourself with the right people
The right people will steer your company to success. By recruiting and training the best people and empowering them to operate autonomously, you are able to focus on the overall strategy of the business.
Three: Create a scalable management model
With business growth comes the need for the development of scalable management and quality control systems. As your team and the roles they perform grow and change, a new management structure must be created to ensure accountability against benchmarks and that quality control of goods and services remains constant.
Four: Define a quality control system
As your company grows you must ensure that the quality of your goods or services is maintained. Establish what elements should exist in a quality control system and then assign the responsibility of maintaining that quality to someone within your management model.
Five: Execute systems consistently and constantly
Once you have created a scalable management model with a defined quality control system you need to ensure it’s executed to perfection 100% of the time. Daily and weekly checklists help to ensure that team members are performing their assigned tasks in a consistent manner and staff reviews of the checklists will help with accountability.
Six: Understand your capacity
An accurate understanding of the capacity your business has to deliver a product or service over a certain period of time is vital. Knowing this enables you to control production flow rate, organise orders, manage resources and identify when maximum capacity has been reached.
Seven: Spread the risk around
While it’s often hard to turn work away (and we don’t advise you do!), it’s important to ensure that one client does not account for too much of your turnover and growth, as it leaves your business vulnerable to changes in that client relationship. Spread the risk by having various clients and developing multiple income streams.
Eight: Make sure the price is right
If the demand for your service is outgrowing what you can manage, it may be worthwhile considering an increase or modification in your pricing policy. This can help to manage the volume of interest and quality of clients if delivered in conjunction with effective messaging.
Nine: Partnerships and referrals
Developing partnerships or referral relationships with related organisations can be mutually beneficial if a referral-fee structure can be arranged for times when you are not able to deliver. This not only negates the negative PR effect of turning work down but also helps you avoid the pitfalls of “forced expansion”.
Ten: Get a Mentor
It is always good to have an objective view from outside of the business to help identify issues, to aid in planning forward and be an experienced sounding board.
But most importantly: Listen to the numbers. They do not lie.
Too important for a point in itself, it’s vital to listen to the numbers every step of the way – from when you set up systems, review price points and agree referral arrangements through to optimising your marketing, hiring team members and more.
Numbers don’t lie.
If used properly, the numbers will tell you where additional oversight or changes are needed in order to increase efficiency, sales and quality.
But what if the numbers tell you a story you don’t like?
Then use them. They are the tools that will enable you to identify what the problem is and how to fix it.
Numbers come from everywhere; from the overall budget, to cash flow, through to equipment purchases, employee costs and more. They are so varied and vital that it is important to seek external financial support to help ensure you are making the most of what these numbers mean and how they can impact the sustainable growth and long-term success of your business.
At the end of the day, there is no one solid rule for how to best manage business growth, as there are infinite variables that change on a daily basis. However, by taking some of the steps listed here, and paying attention to the numbers in your business, you will be well equipped to plan ahead and make the most of your business growth.
Learning how to manage business growth can make or break your business. To find out more about how to effectively manage business growth, contact the team at www.abjsolutions.com.au or email us at admin@abjsolutions.com.au
