Most entrepreneurs and business owners have the goal of expanding their company as some point down the line. Very few owners are happy staying small when they could be growing. There are a number of ways to scale a business, but before you take the leap, it’s important to consider these six points.
Where is Your Company Most Valuable?
Just like you did when you first setup your business at home base, you need to make sure that wherever you’re expanding to has a need for your products or services. You may want to put up a new storefront in San Francisco, but if there are already ten other shops just like yours, you’re going to have a hard time standing out. You should always be filling a need when you open up a new location.
How Should You Handle the Business Model?
The easiest thing would be to simply replicate your current business model and apply it to your new locations. However, that’s not always realistic. You may need to tweak your business model a bit after doing consumer research and figuring out exactly which parts of your brand will be most meaningful to the new market.
Technology
If you’re unsure of your technology needs, don’t leave it up to change. Speak with professionals who know the industry and can help your business grow. A team of software engineers and project managers will know just how to approach your specific expansion project. For more information, visit http://www.cogitechsolutions.com/.
Will I Find the Talent I Need in the New Location?
Finding talent in your new marketplace is a huge consideration. Will there be enough professionals in your industry so that you’ll be able to hire new employees? Can you encourage some of your current employees to work remotely for the new business or even relocate? The last thing you want to do is setup a new business and then find out you can’t staff it.
Do I Have Enough People to Assign to this Growth Project?
You can’t realistically run your own business and then also run the entire scaling project. You’ll need to find a few trusted employees, ideally those in management positions, who can take the reins. You may want to leave them at home to man your current business or you may want to entrust them with the new locations.
Is My Home Foundation Solid Enough?
Don’t make the mistake of expanding your business before you’ve perfected it in its initial setting. Your business has to be stable on a daily basis for quite some time in order to scale. Not only do you need to work out the kinks before you bring your business model elsewhere, but you also need to make sure that your home company will continue to be successful as you focus on expanding.
Deciding to scale your business, whether you’re expanding domestically or ready to go international, is a fun and exciting, yet worrisome and stressful time. Make sure that you have your planning as complete as possible before taking the steps necessary to scale.
