Is now the time to take that step and expand your company? Is your business at that point where growth is your next move? How can you tell? What kind of signposts are there to suggest that now is the time to make a move? According to some recent research done by Oracle, the number one reason small business owners see with regard to growth is that they are not prepared to manage immediate and quick growth. The research also discovered that a company’s ability to quickly scale ranked only behind their sales ability as the reason they were, eventually, able to grow to the next stage.
So, what are some of the signs that will let you know that now may be the time to expand your business?
- You know that to go from a startup to a fully fledged company takes more than the initial great idea you had. It takes focus, dedication, a serious plan, and 100 hour work weeks. If you are not prepared for that, you might want to decide to do something else. You have the mindset to dedicate to the company and its growth and can still maintain a balance that doesn’t jeopardize other areas of your life.
- You realized long ago that the secret to your success is going to be the people you bring in to help you attain the vision. You took your time and looked for just the right people and now you have had them in place for a while. The team you have assembled has become a well oiled machine. They are properly motivated and they know where they have to take the company. Because you have assembled and trained the best you can find, your company has become a leader and the cash has been rolling in for some time.
- Your people have been cross trained and you have found people who actually have the talent and the skill to manage people effectively. Finding good managers is extremely difficult and bad managers can usually cause more chaos and turnover than actual growth.
- You know that the number one reason companies fail is a lack of cash flow. This is not your problem. You have plenty of operating capital as well as at least six months in reserve. In addition to your operating costs and reserves, you have the cash that you can actually throw into the business to fuel and sustain the growth you have planned.
- Finally, you have your systems in place. This isn’t the beginning anymore where you just opened for business and made your adjustments on the fly. You have actual processes now that have propelled your company to where it is. It has been handling your success and is now poised to handle your growth. The system that is in place will be the key to your successful growth.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
