Scaling Up

 Increasing the scale of a business is easier said than done. If your business objective is to scale up, you need to consider the people aspects, strategy and financials.

 People make the firm

People determine a company’s success, and hiring the right people is critical. Hiring a team of great people will help to solve most of the problems the business encounters as it increases in scale. As such, you should invest time and money into the hiring process to find the best professionals to take the company to the next level. Screen candidates not only for their skills and knowledge, but also for their personality and how well they fit the mission, values and culture of the firm.

Once you have hired the best team, you need to make sure that you keep them. You and your management team should communicate openly, recognise and reward their achievements, and give them the tools and training they need to succeed.

Follow a simple strategy

In the words of Albert Einstein, “Everything should be made as simple as possible - but not simpler.” Businesses need a strategy to succeed, but it shouldn’t be complicated. The very best strategic plans are 1 page of A4.

The strategy should include the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business, the company’s core values and mission. As the focus is to scale up and grown the firm, the strategy should include high-level goals for each quarter, and year. Once you have finalised the strategy, ensure that you communicate it effectively so that everyone in the firm understands what the objectives of the firm are and what they need to do to achieve the overall goal of growing the business.

Manage risk (and cashflow)

Like anything in life, businesses encounter unexpected storms from time to time. As such, the management team should manage risk effectively in order to ensure that the firm’s growth strategy isn’t derailed by unforeseen market forces.

Cashflow is very important when trying to increase the scale of a business. As such, unnecessary outlay should be avoided. Instead, the firm should focus on building up cash reserves which can be used from time to time to assist the business in achieving its growth strategy.

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