Introduction
You have successfully launched your business, your products or services are recognized and appreciated, and you are gaining some attention. It is when you have to decide whether to scale your business or wait for a while. It is the most critical step where most businesses fall flat. According to a start-up statistic report, 10 percent of new companies don’t survive in their first year. They fail to get a clear picture of where their business stands, its budget criteria, the proportion of the number of employees and productivity, and profitability.
A company’s growth can be defined when it has a persistent customer base and a constant income. Suppose mid-level companies or startups want to flourish their business in the industry. In that case, they have to scale up by increasing their number of employees, productivity, customer base, customer satisfaction, revenue, and more. Let’s understand the different ways or steps to scale a startup.
How do you scale a startup?
This is a question that every entrepreneur faces at some point. There is no easy answer, but there are a few key things to remember. Businesses are generally started or created with the passion for achieving a goal, developing a device that helps others, or even earning more money. First, having a clear vision for your company’s future is important. You need to build a team of people who share your vision and are willing to work hard to achieve it. Finally, you need to focus on continual growth and innovation. This means always looking for new opportunities and ways to improve your products and services. Below are a few more ways to create a scalable startup that will continue to thrive as it grows.
7 Ways for Scaling a Startup:
1. Make the startup run without you
As a startup founder, you are used to being involved in every aspect of the business. But as the company grows, it will become increasingly difficult for you to continue wearing all the hats. To scale the business, you need to start delegating tasks and giving up some control. It may be difficult initially, but it is essential for the company’s long-term success. One of the first steps is clearly defining roles and responsibilities within the company. This will help everyone know what their job is and what is expected of them. To make sure you’re heading in the right direction, encourage feedback from your employees and act on it.
2. Automate What You Can
If you can automate routine processes in your startup, you will ultimately improve efficiency and optimize performance. You can eliminate mundane tasks, reducing the chance of human error. In some cases, automating can even help you diagnose and resolve problems more quickly. When deciding what to automate in your startup, consider the following:
● How often is the task performed?
● How important is accuracy?
● How difficult is the task?
● How much time does it take to accomplish the task?
● How much does human error cost you?
In most startups, multiple areas could be automated, such as Employee onboarding, accounting and bookkeeping, Customer relationship management (CRM), Marketing tasks such as email campaigns and social media posts, and Inventory management. If you decide to automate certain tasks, document the process, so everyone understands how the new system works.
3. Create an irresistible company culture
No matter the size of your company, culture is everything. It’s the set of values, behaviours, and beliefs that shape how your employees interact with each other and the world around them. And while it might seem like something that only big companies need to worry about, the truth is that culture is just as important for startups. Be clear about your values. What are the guiding principles that will shape your company culture? Make sure everybody on your team is aligned with these values and knows how they should be applied in day-to-day interactions.
4. Use marketing techniques
Marketing is critical for any business, especially startups. They need to generate buzz and build awareness for their product or service. The good news is that several marketing techniques are particularly effective for startups. One of the effective things you can do is focus on generating quality content including blog posts, infographics, ebooks, or well-written articles. Quality content will help you attract leads and prove your brand as a thought leader in your industry. Another effective marketing technique for startups is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Optimising your website and content for relevant keywords will improve your visibility on search engines, which can drive traffic (and leads) to your site.
5. Invest in technologies
Irresistible company culture is where employees feel like they’re constantly learning and growing. To make this happen, invest in training and development programs that help employees build new skills and advance their careers. Not only will this make your company more charming to top talent, but it will also help you retain the great employees you already have.
6. Hire the right people
It is important to hire competent staff who do their job well. When hiring new employees, don’t just look at their skills and experience. Make sure they’re also a good fit for your company culture. The initial approach is to communicate your culture during the recruiting process and then use behavioural interviews to assess whether candidates are likely to thrive in that environment. This will free up your time to focus on other business areas.
7. Ask for help from a consultant
Starting a business is hard work—and it’s not always easy to know when (or how) to ask for help. However, there are certain situations where seeking professional help can make all the difference for a startup. One such situation is when it comes time to scale the business. Trying to grow too quickly can often lead to mistakes and setbacks—so working with a consultant who has experience helping companies to scale effectively can give you a significant advantage. Similarly, if you’re struggling with marketing or sales, bringing in an expert consultant can help you get back on track.
Conclusion
Transitioning from being hands-on in every aspect of the business to delegating authority can be difficult, but it is essential for scaling a startup. Working with a consultant is not a judgment that should be made lightly—but in certain situations, it can be precisely what a struggling startup needs to get back on the path towards success. Following these tips guarantees, your business continues running smoothly even when you’re not there.
To learn when to scale your business for maximum profits, register yourself today for the programs offered by Wadhwani Entrepreneur. We inspire and educate thousands of entrepreneurs on how to start and scale their businesses. We offer two programs, WEN Ignite and WE Liftoff; WEN Ignite is mainly for professionals and post & pre-college students with great ideas, skills and knowledge about what firm they want to start; we help them understand why, when, and how to set up a startup with the help of case studies. WE Liftoff is a program specialised for growing businesses; we help them enhance their strategies, build networks, strengthen brand visibility and funding plan, assist them in understanding how to scale startups and more. To understand how our program works, contact us know.
Apply today:
https://entrepreneur.wfglobal.org/ignite/
(For those in later years of the graduate program/ PG students/ working professionals/ pre-incubatees having a validated idea to launch a venture)
