In the business world, time is a finite resource and there’s no way around it. First, you race to your break-even point. Then, you race in order to make an adequate expansion in that window of opportunity that has just presented itself. Finally, you need to launch a business that stands the test of time. So, on the one hand, everything has this sign of urgency around it, then again, you can’t just rush blindly into relentless growth, seeing as how your workload may exceed your abilities and capacities. What you need to do is find a controlled way to facilitate the growth of your business and here are five tips to do so.
Outsourcing
The first thing you should do in order to facilitate the growth of your business is definitely outsourcing. Why? Well, because trying to enable your company to handle each of these specialized tasks in-house might be incredibly restricting and significantly slow you down. Moreover, it might be a while until you reach the level of proficiency of these companies, which means that outsourcing helps you provide an outstanding service, long before you would otherwise be able to do so. Aside from this, outsourcing allows you to accept more work instead of being forced to turn it down.
Delegating tasks
The next step on your path towards scalable career growth lies in proper task delegation. This issue is a bit paradoxical. On the one hand, in the early stages of your business, it’s much easier to delegate tasks and oversee their execution. However, there’s really no need for delegation, seeing as how you can still do everything on your own. In other words, it, once again, comes down to choosing a long- over a short-term favorable solution.
Plug all the leaks
When it comes to reducing costs and saving money, a lot of people assume that this means cutting down the size of your staff, lowering the quality of your supplies or moving to a smaller office. In reality, all of these measures can wait until you’ve made sure that there are no leaks. Leaks are expenses that don’t benefit your company in any tangible way and exist merely because you haven’t noticed them in time. The best examples of this are employee theft or inefficient utility bill. As for the first, it comes down to many factors, yet, the latter can be checked by hiring a power quality testing agency.
Protect your IP
Another concern you should deal with is the issue of protecting your IP (intellectual property). As a small business, you’ll be under the radar of the trademark law and regulations, which might result in a bigger brand stealing your work. We’re not just talking about logo or slogan but your content, as well. The best example of this could be seen recently when IGN stole Boomstick Gaming’s review for the game Dead Cells. As you grow, you need to make a system that’s capable of protecting your intellectual property. This is why you need to register your company as soon as possible and even get in touch with some intellectual property lawyers.
Focus on creating return customers
At the end of the day, you need to understand that the bulk of your profit comes from return customers. Sure, 8 percent of regulars make about 40 percent of your profit, which would make some people argue that 60 percent coming from others still makes the majority of your income. What these people tend to forget are two things. First, these 8 percent of return customers already have a strong habit of buying from you, which means that retaining them costs you little to no effort. Second, they too are a strong tool for promotion and sales, once they become brand ambassadors.
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As you can see, the main obstacle to creating sustainable growth lies in the fact that the majority of entrepreneurs see growth as the increase in profit and tend to ignore the increase in responsibilities and workload. By applying the above-listed five tips, you’ll be able to envelop the entire situation into a long-term growth strategy.
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