Every new business owner is going to hit that exciting point when they start to wonder if it’s time to grow a little more (or a lot more, depending).
After all, you’ve built the thing, people seem to like it, and now you’re trying to decide if growing is going to help you or basically undo everything you’ve been working so hard to achieve.
Because in the end, scaling isn’t just doing more, it’s doing more and staying reliable and successful, and that’s not always an easy thing to do.
With that in mind, keep reading for some useful advice on how to know your startup is ready to scale so you don’t move too soon, and you don’t wait too long.
You’re Not Firefighting Every Day Anymore
To put it in a nutshell, if you’re going to work every day and having to deal with crisis after crisis instead of working on the core of the business, you’re really not ready to grow.
That’s because scaling only makes things more complicated and gives you more to do, and if the foundations aren’t quite right yet, it’s all just going to get a lot harder.
So the real sign to look out for is when problems stop feeling like they’re emergencies and happening all the time, and they’re just inconvenient problems that pop up once in a while that you have the experience and knowledge to deal with quickly and efficiently.
Once you’re there, growth could be the next step.
Demand Isn’t A Fluke
Random spikes in your sales always feels amazing, but one or two doesn’t mean you’re ready to grow just yet - what you need to see is repeated, predictable demand, which includes plenty of returning customers, and word-of-mouth that continues even if you take a break from social media, for example.
It’s great to be excited when you’re doing well, but make sure you keep track of the ups and downs, and only take things to the next stage when you’re got more ups than downs, and the downs are disastrous moments that leave you with a cash flow problem.
Your Systems Can Take It
A startup that’s ready to scale usually has good systems in place, like clear onboarding, a repeatable sales process, straightforward delivery, and documentation that everyone can get to whenever they need it, even if the person who created it isn’t around.
The fact is, if your business only works when you personally oversee every detail, scaling is just going to stretch you too far, and you’ll end up burning out before you see any positive results.
What you want is to be able to hand off tasks without things falling apart, and that could mean outsourcing and working with teams like https://www.algebradigital.co.uk, for example, so you can work on other aspects of the business, or, if you need to, take a real break without stressing that there’s not going to be a business to go back to.
It’s normal to be scared of business growth, but it’s also a necessity if you want to be successful, and getting all the basics in order so you’re certain it’s the right time to move forward is definitely going to allay at least some of that fear.
