5 Mistakes To Avoid When Growing Your Business
Watching your business grow can be exciting. However, it’s important to plan ahead and keep up with any essential improvements so that you don’t cause unnecessary stress for yourself or create unnecessary costs. Below are just some of the big mistakes to avoid.
Not scaling your tech
To handle the added pressures of a larger business, you may find that you have to upgrade your tech. If you don’t upgrade your tech, you could make life harder for yourself and put limits on your growth.
Start by considering your hardware. For example, a single phone in an office may be all you need if you’re only getting a few calls throughout the day. However, if the phone is constantly ringing and you have a team of employees, it could be time to invest in extra phone extensions. In some cases, phone queue systems may be necessary.
When it comes to software, make sure that the program is powerful enough to handle your needs and that it can support enough users. ERP software could be worth moving to help integrate all your software and make things easier – it could be worth talking to experts to help with ERP selection. It’s best to invest in scalable software early so that you don’t have to keep migrating to new software as you get bigger.
Neglecting accounting
Accounting is a task that may not take up too much of your time as a small startup. However, as you grow and start taking on different income streams and added expenses, you could find that accounting becomes more complicated and time-consuming.
Make sure that you keep up with bookkeeping so that things don’t become disorganized. At some point you may need to delegate the task to an outsourced accountant or in-house employee.
Waiting too long to hire extra staff
As your business grows and you start taking on more work, it’s important that you also hire more manpower. Eventually, the workload will become too great for your team to handle. The stress of the extra workload could result in you losing good employees and this will only increase the workload for those who remain there. The quality of your work and the quality of customer service could also suffer.
Once you start getting busy and you notice employees struggling, start hiring new staff. Even outsourcing small tasks or taking on part-time staff could help to reduce the burden.
Rushing the hiring process
While it’s important to not wait too long to hire extra staff, it’s also important to not rush the hiring process. You need to hire dependable staff members who are not just well qualified but a good company fit. If not, it could affect the growth of your business and cause you extra problems.
Advertise your vacancy in as many locations as you can and try to advertise for a few weeks. This will maximize the amount of applications you receive. Then, take the time to narrow these applicants down, conducting as many interviews as you need to help you make the right choice.
Taking on too much debt
Many companies borrow money to help invest in all the big costs required for growth such as new equipment or extra employees. While taking on some debt may be necessary, it’s important that you don’t burden yourself with too much debt. It may allow you to grow more rapidly, but these larger debts could be harder to keep up with.
Reduce the need for debts by putting money into savings and by negotiating prices of expenses where possible. Make sure to also not grow too quickly – while it could be important to take on extra employees early to help, you shouldn’t take on more employees than is necessary.