How to Grow Your Small Business
by: Ben Botes
Almost every business owner wants to see his/her business grow. If you are thinking about the future of your business you probably have more questions than answers. But making sure you ask the right questions in every area of your business should lead you towards solutions that can move your business forward positively.
These are all serious questions, which need addressing on a regular basis if your business is to continue on a pathway to success.
Once you have survived the start-up phase of your business, you may be wondering how to take the next step and grow your business beyond its current status.
Choosing the right way to grow and the right strategy to grow through will depend on the type of business you own, your available resources, and how much money, time and sweat equity you're willing to invest all over again. If you're ready to grow, we're ready to help.
Step 1
Decide if you really want to be bigger
Making a decision on growth is a huge decision. So, coming to a conclusion should be based on factors such as what you want the growth to accomplish, whether you will still have the control you want, if the growth will still allow you to deliver the service and quality that you built your business on? What are your goals? For me, at least at this stage, my goals revolve around making a decent income, to be in a reasonable semblance of control of my own destiny, and to work from home to at least be near my family as I pull long hours.
Talk to your peers: Talking with folks in the same position as you, or folks that have been in the same position, is a great way to help you in the decision of growing or not growing. Often these people have been through exactly what you are going through, and as the saying goes, it's always better to learn from someone else's mistakes! Ask questions about why they chose to expand, why they went the way they did, and most of all, what they wouldn't do again.
Look at the positives and the negatives: While it is easy to say that if you expand, you'll make more money, have more power, etc., don't forget the negatives. With growth comes increased costs, more responsibility, more risk, and, like they aren't already long, longer hours. Hiring more people doesn't necessarily mean you'll have more time—in fact, the opposite is often true.
Could your growth hurt your business? Now there's a thought! And that's what weighs heavily on me. Could my growth actually hurt my business? As a service-based business, virtually all of my work has come from word of mouth … folks that are happy with the work I have done and spread it around. So, if they hire my company to do work for them, at this stage, they are hiring me. Will bringing on a new hire and growing hurt that? It may.
Step 2
Hiring new employees - and good ones at that
Well, you've made the decision. You've weighed the options and you are going to grow.
The first thing you have to deal with is getting help and hiring the right people. Hiring employees is a huge step that can radically change how you work and how you feel about your business—both in positive and negative ways. Friends and Family: As the saying goes … "Better the devil you know." Your family knows you the best. You know them. But can you work with them? What sort of working relationship will there be? Can you be their boss and a sibling/spouse/best friend at the same time, or can you separate it? One advantage to family is that they may be a bit more understanding when it comes to issues such as late pay, family situations, etc. Of course, this could also be a disadvantage (you may also be expected to "excuse" family emergencies). Also, it can be difficult to speak to "employees" as "employees" when they are also loved ones, and this can cause problems—both professionally and personally. You must set clear ground rules in advance and remind people that work is work and personal is personal. This is much easier said than done!
Full-time or part-time? Just what do you need to grow? Do you need a full-time sales person or will a part-timer do nicely? Figuring out where you need the most help is very important. The other thing to think about, aside from the cost of full-time vs. part-time (benefits, taxes, etc.) is if you want/need these people as employees or contractors.
Employee or contractor? The big difference between the two really gets down to things such as taxation and benefits and payroll, etc. With an employee, you have to factor all of those things into the mix. But, if your job is retail or requires that someone be at your location of business, then you likely don't have much of a choice.
Local or remote? One distinct advantage for a business such as mine, or one that uses technology a lot, is that location isn't as important as it was just a few years ago. I have worked with subcontractors on projects that were not only out of my time zone, but in other countries as well. I am working on one project for which the client is in California, US, I am in London and the person running the backbend systems is in France … cool! This arrangement is also good as the remote person most likely has his or her own equipment (a great expense savings), so you don't need to open an office to "store" the person (see, more money saved), and you can still have your own mental space to work in. It also allows you to find the best people—not just the best people in your area.
Step 3
Overhead and additional costs
With growth comes additional costs and overhead. Being one who is rather frugal with my expenses, I try to look at as many options as possible. Here are a few to add to the mix.
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How to Grow Your Small Business
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