by Eva Webster, Managing Director at Article-Writing.co
Starting a small business is hard, but do you know what’s even more difficult? Scaling it. Once you’ve launched your business, seen a good return on investment and feel that you have the products, services, and user experience perfected, you can start to grow in other ways.
Scaling your business means you’ll be able to keep your budget lean while increasing your revenue at the same time. Here are the steps to do it.
1. Think Big.
Your first step in scaling your small business is to think big. You may not be the next Steve Jobs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take your business to the heights you’ve only imagined. The trick here is to not only think big, but to have a plan to achieve those lofty goals. Micro-steps may have been the way you conducted yourself when you built your startup, but in terms of scaling, you want to choose a mountain and climb it. Tim Ferris, entrepreneur-extraordinaire and public speaker, thinks big by making things simpler. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
2. Start by Hiring the Right People.
You can’t grow your business alone. You need a trustworthy and skilled team beneath you. When you think about your goals, think about who you want beside you, achieving them. If that doesn’t include certain people already on your team, you know what to do next. You want to hire nurturing leaders, who “plant a seed of entrepreneurial altruism”, which means, basically, I scratch your back, you scratch mine in terms of ideas and building business.
Investing in your team is investing in your brand, so you also want to pay your team what they are worth. You want to drive them and keep them motivated, not just with their passion for your brand and what it stands for, but with tangible rewards for their dedication and service. The more driven your team becomes, the easier it is for you to scale without truly increasing your budget.
3. Start outsourcing the tasks you don’t excel at.
Many entrepreneurs consider themselves jacks-of-all-trades, and while it’s great to have your hands in many pies, it may not be very efficient for your business. One of the easiest ways you can scale your business is to let the professionals take over the tasks you may not be that great at. This can include content creation, social media strategy, or even client out-reach. These tasks take away the valuable time you need to formulate new ideas for your business and your efforts may not prove fruitful if you aren’t a skilled writer or social media strategist. In 2018, SEO requires more than just keyword stuffing, and if you don’t know what that means, you should definitely leave it to the experts who do.
4. Look for mentors.
We all plateau, and whether that’s in our diet, at the gym, or within our business, the best way to keep moving up is to look up at those who have. Mentorship is something that many entrepreneurial-types overlook, thinking they don’t need help or guidance in building their brand, but it can be one of the biggest keys to your future success. What you are looking for is someone to emulate, but in your own way. Once you’ve scaled your business and built your brand, you can take the reins and mentor others who are just starting out.
5. Ask your customers what they want.
Your customers are the driving force behind your business. While they may be buying your goods and services, could they be spending more? By simply asking them what they want, you can tailor your offerings and get those upsells that you didn’t even realize were possible. You can do this in a number of ways, including through your email newsletter, on social media, or with a short survey sent out after a purchase has been made. Your customers may be thrilled that you’re asking their opinion, or they might be bothered that you’ve asked. To get around this, offer them something in return for their thoughts. This might be a discount, or a special offer tailored to them because of the time they’ve taken to help your business.
Small businesses who don’t have the budget to invest in hard-core marketing efforts can still scale their business easily using these steps. Let your ideas guide you, but look for help along the way.
Eva Webster is the Managing Director at Article-Writing.co. Eva has written for a number of publications over her 25-year career, with a focus on female entrepreneurship, thought leadership, real estate and other lifestyle topics. After many years of making it and breaking it in the freelance world, she now mentors new writers who want to take their careers to the next level.
