How to Smartly Scale Your Business

Now that your company is up and running, you are likely trying to figure out next steps to take it to the next level. Scaling a business doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes thoughtful planning, often with multiple stakeholders involved.

Especially for startups, scaling a company with limited resources is the greatest challenge. That’s where scaling smarter (not harder) comes in to play. Below, we’ve outlined how to scale your company the smart way.

Start Internally

Collaboration and Communication

Gone are the days where a dictatorial-style leadership team leads to thriving company. Such an approach can negatively impact company culture, and ultimately, performance.

Today, companies are growing better and faster through effective communication and collaboration. Leaders are giving their employees the chance to voice their opinions and share ideas about how to grow. As the ones “on the front lines”, staff typically see opportunities for improvement that leadership simply miss due to their daily responsibilities.

Be Transparent

Along the same lines of good communication is transparency from the top down. Workers that are left in the dark about company goals will feel frustrated and confused about why they must complete certain tasks. As a result, their productivity will suffer – the opposite of what needs to happen in order to scale.

To maximize company efficiency, consistently share department and company-wide goals and their statuses. Clear communication will improve individual and organizational performance, which in turn, can help you grow your business.

Compare Operating Costs vs. Revenue

As your company brings in more revenue, it likely means that you’re bringing in more work. Consequently, you need more “hands on deck” to get the work done – raising operating costs.

Put simply: if you increase costs at the same rate you increase revenue, your company won’t grow. In order to smartly scale your business, your revenue must outnumber your operating costs.

This is where optimizing current processes can help. Rather than adding employees or moving to a larger space, find ways to make the most of what you have. Let some employees work from home or look at processes that can easily be duplicated and automated.

Get Smart About External Processes

Automate Customer Service

Speaking of improving processes, one of the easiest ways to do this is by not hiring a secretary or administrative assistant to filter through your company’s incoming phone calls. Instead, you can sign up for a virtual phone app service like Ninja Number.

A virtual phone app essentially takes on all of the tasks that a secretary would normally have when it comes to answering the phone. Financially speaking, it’s a smart way to scale because you only pay a small monthly fee rather than an annual salary or hourly wage that you would to a real human being.

You set up a completely custom plan for your business – whether you want to send an incoming caller through a frequently asked questions sequence, or you have multiple employees who need to be able to answer from their personal devices. You pick and choose your level of customization.

Ninja Number lets you keep your work and personal life separate, all while working in the background. This technology easily takes away harrowing tasks that once took up so much of your time, so you can focus on scaling your business.

Leverage Influencers for Marketing

From a marketing perspective, one of the smartest ways to scale your business without spending big bucks is by getting in touch with influencers in the industry. You can find them on social media, blogs, or other platforms that are relevant to your space.

Influencer marketing is defined as leveraging the following of a prominent person to sell a specific product or service. Smartly scaling your business does not include spending countless hours trying to grow your company’s followers on social media. Instead, through an influencer marketing campaign, you can reach all of their audience in considerably less time.

So, what are the benefits of this marketing approach? Through influencers, you can:

• Create and nurture trust
• Reach more followers
• Improve brand messaging
• Influence buying decisions
• Engage with higher qualified leads

Still unconvinced it’s for your business? One study by MediaKix found that 89% of marketers determined influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channel. You might be surprised at its return on investment. It’s one of the smartest ways to scale.

To grow your business the smart way, you need to uncover ways to maximize what you have. It could mean getting creative with your teams internally, and/or reaching out to influencers in your industry. Regardless, your employees are going to follow your lead, so in order to speed up your business, you might need to slow down and go back to basics first.