10 Ways You Can Scale Your Business in 2020

Do you know how to grow your business in 2020?

Imagine your business 12 months from now. We bet you’re not dreaming of the same image you see at work at the moment. You probably dream of more people, more office space and of course more clients.

Growth is essential to build the type of small business where you experience long term success. But even if you have an excellent business idea, GROWING that into a larger entity isn’t easy. 

For one thing, business growth doesn’t simply happen. You have to plan for it; scale your business through certain initiatives that will enable it to:

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• Handle more business
• Accommodate more customers
• Generate a higher profit
• Wise scaling enables these benefits without risking that you’re taking on too much at one time

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Good news: there’s more than one thing you can try to scale your business in 2020. We’ll list a few practical options many business leaders have found effective. 

 Which one will you try first?  

Automate Your Marketing

Chances are, you don’t have time to keep up with modern marketing trends along with all your other business tasks. You can automate your marketing, especially social media content, by using resources outside your business. Use automated software or use an expert that does it for you.

Marketing is essential to future success, so make sure you get this right. 

Improve Your Public Profile

If you want to draw more clients, you need to have the right public reputation. And we’re NOT talking about your company’s profile.

In the 21st century, consumers are much more interested in the people behind a brand. Personal details about a small business owner spark trust and can be the reason someone decides to use your services, rather than your competitor’s. 

The following will ensure potential customers will find the information that will initiate trust:

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• A detailed personal profile on the company website
• Updated LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media profiles
• Using your photographs in company marketing to make the brand seem less clinical and more personal

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What Important Relationships Should You Initiate or Nurture?

In business, success is often thanks to who you know, not only what you do. Are there any individuals you should initiate contact with or build a stronger relationship with?

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• Experts in your field that can provide references about your skill or knowledge
• Market leaders to engage with; when you engage online you can reach their audiences, which is a dynamic advertising technique
• Approach possible investors—individuals that you know have enough capital and interest in your niche. When you suggest investments, it will be born from a relationship, increasing the chances of getting the money you hope for

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Get a Monthly Business Manager

When your business grows, work increases and you—or your small team—won’t cope with the workload. Don’t think you have to do everything yourself. You can make use of a business manager without putting anything at risk. You may even benefit from using a business manager for tasks such as:

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• Bookkeeping and keeping your accounting in order
• Payment collection and bill payments
• Appointment scheduling
• CPA liaison for tax purposes
• Payroll processing
• Regular reporting to help you make informed business decisions

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A business manager’s professionalism, knowledge and expertise will communicate to the outside world that you value excellence.  

Get an Objective Financial Opinion

You’re not an expert in all fields of business and you may not have a financial background. But financial advice is essential to any business, especially with the economic environment changing all the time.

If you don’t have the budget to hire a full-time financial advisor yet, enquire about once-off consultations. Or you can meet with an advisor once every few weeks to look over your financial statements. They can offer advice on financial decisions you need to make to manage cashflow, ensure growth and avoid pitfalls.  

Outsource Time Consuming Tasks

You and your small team aren’t experts in all areas of business, so don’t force yourselves to do everything. You’re robbing your team of valuable time and energy they can spend elsewhere, without the insight or experience to optimize results.  

These days you can outsource many tasks to experts who have the know-how, so you benefit from more beneficial outcomes; because it’s done right the first time:

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• Keeping your website and social media content up to date is important because it proves you’re active in your industry. But it can be confusing and time-consuming. Let experts who understand SEO and Google’s algorithms do it for you.
• Another task you’ll soon find too time-consuming if your business involves merchandise is inventory management; more specifically counting your stock for control purposes. Once again, this is something many business owners outsource when their team is too small to handle the workload.

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Time to Standardize

While your business is small you can still manage each day as it comes and allows employees to ‘do it their way.’ But once your business starts growing you can’t allow small mistakes to hamper daily workflows. You must avoid misunderstandings between you, your staff, suppliers and clients. 

Standardized procedures about WHAT must take place and WHO is responsible for it will streamline your workflow. Be known as an organized business, not someone who disappoints by not delivering on time.  

Invest in Technology

To help you cope with more work, people and information when your business has grown, you’ll need modern technology. From managing data so you don’t lose out on leads to automating tasks so you get more done, you can save a lot of time, money and effort when you invest in technology. 

An important change to consider is investing in one central, integrated system, often a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). When you have different, incompatible software programs running to manage clients, marketing and merchandise, there’s more chance of mistakes, miscommunication & management challenges.  

Remember, you need to scale and prepare your business for growth even before you see that growth. By the time your business increases, your team must be comfortable using the new tech you implemented so it doesn’t slow them down anymore.  

Get a Business Coach

It’s difficult to navigate the modern business arena. So why not let an expert help you along the way? A business coach can help you become the best possible small business owner you can be by fulfilling these roles:

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• Keeping you accountable for the decisions you make
• Motivate you in challenging times
• Be a soundboard for ideas, to spark creative thinking
• Help you develop skills, such as a dynamic leadership style

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Get Capital

If you want to grow, you need to let go of the notion that you should do everything on your own. Many of the most successful company owners started by using someone else’s—an investor’s—capital. Now can you see how important it is to nurture relationships with potential role players in your business? 

Or perhaps it’s time to take out a loan. Make peace with the fact that growth often requires money and in business, when you don’t have any, it’s acceptable to use someone else’s. 

You have an exciting time ahead, no matter what size your business is today. But make sure you can look back at the end of 2020 and feel satisfied with how your business has scaled. 

It takes planning. Where will you start? 

If you want to talk to one of our experts for some guidance, schedule your 45-minute free consultation today.