No one creates a business without wanting it to be successful. However, this feat is easier said than done, especially in a market flooded with established and start-up businesses. For Australian entrepreneur Kath Purkis, the key to developing a successful business is scalability. Creating a business that can progress and develop with its success is curtail to on-going growth. Implement the following 8 tips to create a scalable business with profitable results.
Make Yourself Accessible
How do you do this? By ensuring your customers can easily reach you. It’s not enough anymore to only have a working telephone line. Your business should be equipped with smart numbers that can be programmed to make calls to varying locations at choice times.
Select local UK rates with 03 numbers or gift your patrons with free calls to your establishment through 0800 and 0808 numbers. Nothing greater can show that you value their input and want to hear their concerns.
Budget Smartly
This is not a new concept to you. And though you would have heard this often, it is easier said than done. A good grasp of accounting is needed, how to keep track of your cash flow, prepare income statements and balance sheets.
Knowing how much inventory to purchase, or how many people you can afford to hire, or even how much risk you can safely take on stocks and bonds. If this is not your forte, your first hire should be a skilled accountant who will help steer you along the journey.
Build A Strong Team
What business can be effectively run solo? None. Even hosting podcasts, and producing youtube videos, jobs one may assume can be done by one individual, is extremely difficult alone. You need support. Think critically about the areas that require the most focus.
Accounts, as previously discussed. Depending on the enterprise, a marketing expert will be needed. IT tech and human resource personnel could be equally important. Fill your most valuable positions first, then based on the budget, worry about the rest.
When choosing someone to join your team, make sure to thoroughly vet their background. Hire a third-party background checker to look into past criminal records to ensure spot red flags in a potential employee’s history. You want to be able to fully trust your team members to work well with them.
Know What You’re Selling
This point is two-fold. Your business should ideally have a clear vision presented to the public. One look at your motto or logo should clearly spell out what you offer. There should be no confusion when a customer approaches you.
When your focus is on one area, you will be able to more finely attune your service. This is not to say you may not branch out to other facts, but they should not be completely removed from the core venture.
Secondly, you should be extremely versed in whatever service you offer. It is important to pick something you know like the back of your hand or have a lot of external support to successfully uphold.
Train Your Staff
The business world is always changing, always progressing. What were the standards ten years ago would have changed with different discoveries and innovations. Move with the times. Ensure your team is on top of all advancements.
If you offer software or hardware, there should be intermittent training to ensure your sales force understands the products and can hit key sales points to move the products. But training should also be extended to customer service. Having a team that knows the products but is not pleasant or welcoming to customers is a recipe for failure.
Stay On Top Of Record keeping
Keeping clearly detailed records is important for you to track how things are going within your company. You can analyze what strategies are working and which are failing. You will be able to then make targeted revisions that will surely show results.
These records are also necessary for filing taxes. Never slight the government intentionally or unintentionally. That will only come back to bite the business in the butt.
Keep An Eye On The Competition
You’re not operating in a bubble. There will be many other businesses that offer similar products as you do. The goal is not to copy what they do but to use their successes and failures as a guide. It would be silly to fall into the same snares that another has fallen into.
Be smart, and help yourself by emulating their good moves. It would be wise not to drop your hat into a ring in which there are already very many major and successful players. Play to your odds.
Always be ready To Sacrifice
It will not be smooth sailing all the way. There will be times when you will need to spend late hours at the office or take a reduction in salary. Working for yourself has many perks but also requires a lot more dedication than working for someone else.
Set your mind from the start. If you are not willing to make concessions, then reconsider starting the business at all. Your sacrifices will not be in vain.
Your business has every opportunity to be hugely successful. This all depends on you. How you plan, how you train, and how you sacrifice. Put these tips into practice, you won’t regret it.
Bonus Tip: Invest in Marketing
Marketing is an essential tool you need to invest in to ensure business growth. Come up with a marketing plan to better understand your target market. That way, you can use it to maximize your reach.
Digital marketing, including social media, is one of the most popular marketing methods in the industry, and understandably so. However, never dismiss the power of printed marketing. From business cards to custom box packaging, traditional marketing efforts are just as effective in extending your brand's reach.
