Whether you’re a startup or an established enterprise in the industry, your business journey often revolves around two goals: growth and profitability. However, while some entrepreneurs approach these objectives linearly, others prioritize scaling.
Scalability goes beyond increasing revenue. It entails fast expansion and great market penetration using a disproportionately lower resource input, focusing on efficiency and sustainability. In other words, it takes your enterprise to greater heights faster.
Want to build your business rapidly? Let’s explore how to scale your business effectively to drive you toward rapid success.
“Grow” vs. “Scale”
To “grow” and to “scale” may sound like the same thing, but in modern entrepreneurial jargon, these terms mean differently and use different approaches to business progress.
Growth generally happens linearly. For instance, your business grows when you hire more people or add more of the assets you currently use in your operations; your revenue increases as a result. However, it naturally takes substantial effort and resources to stimulate and sustain growth, as your output will be proportional to the input.
Meanwhile, scale is when you disproportionately increase revenue and profit margins without investing substantial resources. Scaling allows your business to expand rapidly and maximize potential despite fierce competition while incurring minimal overhead.
Building a scalable business keeps you agile and ready to face whatever changes and challenges come your way, making it a popular objective for entrepreneurs aiming to dominate their industries.
Take the classic case of Netflix vs. Blockbuster as an example. Blockbuster, an established video rental company, was firmly set on opening more brick-and-mortar locations to fuel growth. Meanwhile, its rival Netflix leveraged the power of the internet to distribute its product to a wider audience, but with a fraction of the overhead costs of opening a physical location.
8 Business Scaling Strategies to Try
Scaling is a notoriously challenging undertaking to do successfully. However, the following strategies can help you scale safely and secure this win.
1. Secure new sources of funding
As mentioned, scaling a business requires fewer resources than growing it. However, you may still need to invest in more tools, staff, or facilities, so consider where to acquire the capital you need to expand.
Start by outlining your mission, vision, and business standing to understand your need. For instance, you can perform a market analysis to understand your target market and competitive edge. The information will help you create an expansion roadmap that could inspire potential investors to fund your company.
Then, explore options to fuel your scaling endeavors. Before anything else, consider bootstrapping or self-investing in your business to an extent. It keeps you from building considerable liabilities from external investors, securing your bottom line in the long run.
However, if you don’t have enough funds to bootstrap, you can tap into venture capitalists (VCs) in exchange for equity ownership. In addition to financial backing, VCs offer strategic guidance and valuable industry connections to fuel scaling. You could also try taking out bank loans, but prepare for collaterals and high-interest rates that could significantly impact your credit standing.
2. Establish efficient internal processes
Your company’s operational complexity naturally increases as it scales. Unfortunately, it also means more inefficiencies might hinder its scaling, emphasizing the importance of maintaining seamless internal processes to ensure your business’ agility.
First, assess your existing workflows to identify bottlenecks, including duplicate activities, unnecessary procedures, and other conflicts. Then, find ways to reduce them long-term. For example, you could implement cross-functional teams to improve decision-making across departments, reducing internal project wait times and improving efficiency.
3. Leverage software to increase productivity
Technology plays a critical role in today’s business landscape. Industry-related software tools, for example, can streamline tasks, automate processes, and enable seamless collaboration within your organization, improving overall efficiency and productivity. So, leverage the following systems to restructure internal processes and ensure smoother operations.
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): ERP systems integrate core business functions into a centralized database, enabling real-time data sharing and collaboration for better operational efficiency.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): You won’t have to manage customers manually as CRM software centralizes customer data from multiple sources, helping you efficiently manage interactions throughout their lifecycle.
- Project management tools: These systems enable you to plan, organize, and track project tasks and progress. They also improve project visibility and collaboration, providing insight into your strategies’ performance on demand.
4. Embrace automated tools
Some business tasks are menial and repetitive yet take up so much time and effort that there’s sometimes little left for other, more fruitful activities. Fortunately, automated tools address this problem by removing performing small repetitive tasks when required, freeing up your staff’s time for strategic functions.
If you’re wondering where to implement automated tools, consider marketing operations. Some campaigns tend to be repetitive, but thankfully, automation can make them more manageable, like sending mass-scheduled and geotargeted emails to thousands of recipients. Tools like Canva Magic Write can help generate content for these campaigns efficiently, while Canva Summarizer can simplify condensing complex data or lengthy materials into clear and concise summaries.
Additionally, some customer inquiries, like FAQs and basic troubleshooting, don’t need human intervention. You can leverage AI-powered chatbots to automate these services, ensuring customers receive prompt, round-the-clock assistance without fail.
5. Turn customers into brand advocates
A loyal customer base is fundamental for scaling success. After all, you need a stable and consistent revenue stream to support such a rapid expansion. So, turn customers into satisfied advocates who’d actively promote and recommend your products or services out of their own will. It’s even an opportunity to market your brand via word of mouth to attract higher-quality leads!
You could start by giving customers an overall positive experience with your brand. For example, you could personalize all touchpoints by tailoring communications, offers, and recommendations to customer preferences to make them feel you value their experience and hear their feedback.
Another way to encourage referrals is to incentivize them. Consider offering discounts and cashback to customers who refer new clients to your business. Then, ensure the referral process is convenient and straightforward to persuade them to participate. Remember to show appreciation for continued advocacy.
6. Explore new markets
Expanding into new geographical regions or targeting different customer segments allows you to tap into new scaling opportunities, especially in a high-income location; in effect, you’ll find new ways to build your business to achieve long-term success. Moreover, it trains your operations to adapt to change, preparing them for any incoming challenges.
Analyze your prospective audience, local competition, and economic conditions to make well-informed decisions. Consider the market’s regulatory environment, which could also significantly impact your business in foreign regions. For example, some countries don’t allow foreigners to be major stakeholders in a company, so you would have to partner with local entrepreneurs.
Moreover, consider collaborating with local partners to expedite your entry into a new market. They can provide valuable insights into the area’s business environment, helping you strategize more effectively. It also reduces risks, allowing you to leverage tried-and-tested tactics and minimize wasteful guesswork.
7. Franchise your brand
Want to expand your brand’s reach without investing in new branches? If so, consider franchising.
This business model lets you expand rapidly, minus the significant upfront capital and operational resources, as you’re delegating these investments to a franchisee. They’re responsible for managing a franchised version of your business with its established brand, products, and processes. Meanwhile, you provide support and permission to operate under your brand.
Even better, franchising lets you share risk with franchisees. Since their goal is to secure their location’s success, they’re motivated to work hard and uphold your brand’s reputation. This attribute may lead to higher success rates for franchised outlets than company-owned branches. Moreover, a single location’s success could result in greater brand visibility and reputation.
8. Outsource non-core business functions
While the strategies we’ve discussed are critical to your scaling endeavors, they usually take more work, even with an in-house team.
In this case, consider delegating specific tasks or operations to external service providers specializing in those areas. In effect, you can focus internal resources and expertise on core activities directly contributing to rapid growth. Outsourcing is an affordable alternative to an in-house staff since you won’t have to invest in hiring or training internally, which could reach a few thousand dollars per hire.
Thinking of leveraging outsourced teams? You can delegate many critical business operations to them, such as getting an IT staff to take charge of your tech support and cybersecurity process. They can also manage software development tasks, eliminating your need to invest in an in-house development team.
You can also delegate recruitment and onboarding processes to give your internal HR team breathing room for performance management, training, and other critical operations. Meanwhile, if you’re having trouble managing high customer interactions, consider using outsourced live chat or call center services.
Scale Your Business Towards Success
Companies that scale and adapt to shifting market dynamics are more likely to survive long-term in this constantly evolving business environment. However, rapid growth isn’t without challenges and often requires careful planning. But as long as you’re willing to take bold strides and leverage the strategies above, you can reap the rewards of your successful business that’ll last indefinitely into the future.
Need help scaling your company? Partner with Manila Recruitment, one of the leading recruitment agencies in the Philippines, to find top-performing remote and offshore IT workers who can secure your long-term success.
Contact us and start building your business today!
Connect with Lawrence Barrett on LinkedIn
- 8 IT Services That Can Be Outsourced to Streamline Operations - November 8, 2024
- Top 6 KPIs for Outsourcing: A Guide for Operations Managers - September 24, 2024
- A Complete Hiring Checklist for Recruiters: Compliance, Documentation, and More! - September 18, 2024
