THERE’S METHOD IN THE MADNESS… THE 4 STEPS YOU NEED TO TAKE TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS

Many businesses fail to think big… They don’t look at their company as a whole and envision its future. These are businesses which generally stagnate.

If you run a business and you dream about growth, you might need to slacken your grip on the daily running of your company and focus on the big picture.

This means working on adapting your company for a higher workload as well as attracting potential investors.

A quick note of caution. If you are a recent startup, scaling up your operations shouldn’t be on your top priority just yet. However, if you are relatively established, with the aptitude and appetite to continue growing, you should start thinking about scaling up your operations.

Here are our 4 steps to scale your business:

Be bold

To scale up, you need to be ready to play with the big boys. This means setting larger targets. You need to get used to a ‘sky’s the limit’ mentality.

By thinking big, I don’t mean delusional daydreams about yourself as the next Richard Branson, sitting on your own Caribbean island. I mean doing away with the limits you impose on your own company.

This means taking a positive attitude about where you can go. Instead of thinking “my revenue is ￡1 million and it looks to remain around that for the near future” – think “my revenue is ￡1 million, why can’t it be ￡50 million?”

Having big dreams is a great way to escape from the limiting mentality that constrains the growth of many smaller businesses.

Find and establish key relationships

There’s that age-old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.

Sure, you need to be an expert in your market, know how to deliver value to your customers and manage your team well. But, ultimately your connections counts. This means you need to spend time building relationships with potential investors and others in your field if you want to grow!

Usually, it is through connections that businesses grow in leaps and bounds. I like to think there is no such thing as luck. Every ‘lucky’ opportunity is somehow earned through good relationship building.

Build a public profile

In the age of LinkedIn, Twitter and online magazines, successful entrepreneurs are able to build themselves up like brands. You need to do the same. Networking goes beyond direct interaction with people; now you need to market yourself.

If you have a pitiful amount of followers on LinkedIn and a sparsely updated Twitter account this needs to change fast.

We no longer live in a B2C or B2B world, it’s H2H (human to human). As leader of your company, customers, investors and strategic partners want to get to know who you are.

Take all available opportunities build your profile, be it writing articles, hosting events it all helps to bring your business up to the level.

Establishing OKRs to attract investors

OKRs help build your business through connecting your individual employee’s goals to the overall priorities of the company. They also do something more; nowadays they are something which potential investors consider when making decisions.

OKRs are gaining value in the eyes of potential investors. If you can demonstrate you have an ambitious set of OKRs which you are managing closely to track both confidence and progress, it shows you have full control over what is going to deliver the growth you’re seeking.

If you haven’t already implemented some OKRs, the time is ripe to do so. Have a chat with one of the Giants here if you’d like to know more.

ROGER LONGDEN