Scaling a business... what I wish they knew

Having worked with many business owners that have grown sustainable and rewarding businesses in what has been a tough few years for business owners, I have been really interested in what makes for a positive and successful scale up.

I also find myself in a unique position where I am also working through my own business scale up plan that is bigger and wilder than anything I had envisioned when I set up my 'little business' so this may evolve into a series as I grow and learn more as an individual beyond what is obtained from the degree modules and work experience.

This week seemed a good time to share the #businessloveseries a collection of my musings, testimonials and learnings in business. The crazy non stop entrepreneurial rollercoaster that we all love so much.

I am at an exciting point in my journey both as advisor and mentor to business owners that are absolutely killing it out there, but also reflecting on my own journey, which I must add are really worlds apart because

advising objectively and actually doing emotionally are two completely different ball games. I think the saying goes 'Practicing what we preach'.

A few things that come up often during the sessions that I hold are starting to follow a trend and I thought it would be cool to round these up into a nice little, 'what I wish they knew' article in my Business Love Series.

I would also like to learn from others to see what you would add to the list from your own scale up success or learning so please don't be shy when it comes to sharing your own views or experiences.

Let It Go

In order to scale you need to Let Go and accept that you may not be the best person for the job.....

This is something that is such a common issue and I'm not sure yet if this is ego or fear or both at play here.

We see a lot of reports about imposter syndrome in business, but the same person that doesn't trust themselves to do a job well could be the bottle neck of the business because they also don't trust anybody else to do it better. The book Ego is The Enemy is a great read for anybody struggling as is Who not How.

Whilst it may be possible to scale a business model alone I am yet to see this myself in typical day to day business. The internet is full of stories of getting rich quick working alone, whilst sipping Champaign [or insert any other trending tipple of choice] on a yacht somewhere hot whilst scaling a business.

When statistics show less than 5% of individuals in the UK earn over ￡100,000, which seems to be a pretty popular benchmark, something isn't quite adding up so don't get too distracted by the hype that is the millions of entrepreneurs raking it in on the online world all by themselves.

You don't always get to see the team behind them, or the real money gained or lost.

I prefer to talk in $￡ although likes and followers are potentially starting to become a form of currency in this modern world!

I do have the pleasure of working with individuals that have scaled beyond our projections with ease and they all eventually end up at the same crossroad.

This crossroad to scale is often when the business is bigger than them, and in order to scale; something or someone needs to give.

Systems and Processes

Systems and processes are your best friend ??.

Now looking back to when I worked at a big 4 corporate firm, one thing that I loathed at the time but now appreciate more than anything at all in business, is the need for processes.

Process manuals, online learning portals, checklists, technical databases all of the things that most entrepreneurs keep tucked away in their busy little brains.

These systems and processes need to be LOCKED IN to enable a business to scale.

It is not just reserved for large corporations or franchise businesses. In fact if you want to know business and business at scale it may be wise to learn a thing or two from the Franchise world ?? [if you know you know] as systems and processes are crucial for any business, especially a business that is planning to scale.

For a hair and beauty business systems and processes are still important and this is something that catches people off guard when we get to the process section of our 121 sessions.

It is the way that you respond to new and existing customers, it is the tone and the words that you use and the timeline you have between responses. It is the order in which you set up your creative space or mix your hair colour as a stylist or gel system for nail techs.

It is the way you fold the towels and manage the laundry schedule.

To go even further, examples of systems and processes within a hair and beauty business range from; Welcome messages and work flows for new customers, Rebooking processes, cancellation processes and systems, bookkeeping and reporting systems, staff processes such as annual leave requests, process for staff development, appraisal systems, marketing processes and systems. The list is not exhaustive if you show me a business owner I can show you a long list of areas that can be systemised and contained within a very useful process manual to help with scaling.

The power and beauty in scaling is when all the things..... all the 'messy action' quoting a client of mine as I love that phrase, can be documented and retained within an easy to navigate process manual.

This makes it easy to transfer knowledge and stay true to the brand and vision because tone and delivery is important.

Now I know a thing or two about processes and won a limelight award ??for my contribution to the online learning guides that I created during my time at the big 4. I Hated it at the time, agree it wasn't my favourite task but turns out I was pretty good at it and actually it was one of the best learnings to date for me in business and for those that I help to scale.

Know your Number

This is an obvious one for me being as I am a Licensed Accountant as well as a Business Advisor and Coach, but not so obvious if you don't have a head for numbers.

I will keep this brief because it is another can of worms that I will be sharing in another article that I have on ice at the moment.

You need to know the sweet spot of the business.

You need to know what you want from the business.

You need to know what investment if any is needed to give you a little boost ??

You need to know the tax implications of actions taken in the business and for future wealth planning.

You need to know how to rinse and repeat to scale.

Don't over complicate it.

Let me know your thoughts on this... play nice it is love season after all ??

My name is Ria-Jaine Lincoln MAAT and I am an innovator in the strategic advisory space for hair and beauty businesses. I bridge the gap between data and strategy to guide our creative businesses through incredible milestones without losing themselves. Because it is more than tax savings or hitting 7 figures to me; its how you protect and spend your heartbeats that really count.

Reading List

￡100k stat https://moneysprout.co.uk/percentage-of-uk-that-earns-over-100k/

Ego is the enemy [thank you Carl Reader for shining a light on Ryan Holiday] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ego-Enemy-Ryan-Holiday/dp/1591847818

Who not How [thank you Dermot Hamblin for introducing me to this book]