Handling Small Business Growing Pains
As a small business owner, growth is almost always one of your primary goals. You want to share your mission and vision—and your products—with as many people as possible. Growing may be your goal, but getting there isn’t always easy.
Not only is growing a successful business a true challenge, but getting through the growing pains themselves can also be hard. As much as you want to grow, you need to be prepared to handle the growth so that your customers aren’t disappointed and you aren’t making promises you can’t keep.
When your business is ready to grow, it can be an exciting time, especially if you know how to tackle every problem that can come your way in the process.
Knowing You Are Ready
Growth can come slowly for small businesses—and it should. A business that isn’t ready to grow but is pushed to do more can end in less than success, just as a business that is bursting at the seams but isn’t allowed to grow can. In order to grow your business, you need to understand it deeply enough to make the right next steps.
Some clear signs that indicate a business is ready to grow are financial. Numbers don’t lie, so if you are consistently making and exceeding monthly income or sales goals, reaching for new heights is a safe bet to make. Start testing the waters by creating higher goals and pushing your team to meet them. When the new goals are also coming easy, it is a sure sign your business is ready to take off.
Another indicator that growth is going to be a safe risk to take is in your employees. A solid, reliable crew will make pushing your business beyond its current boundaries a little easier. Make sure you talk with your staff and let them speak into your plans for new growth. You are going to need to rely on them heavily as you walk down this road, so make sure they are on your side before you start.
Address the Pains
After you have made the decision to forge ahead toward growth and establish a plan to make it happen, you need to be prepared for growing pains. Taking things slow will greatly ease some of the stressors your business and your staff will feel, but all growth comes with a few challenges.
Pay close attention to your team and watch for signs of burnout. Like we talked about above, you need your staff on board as your business changes. Creating new goals and pushing for new heights means more work is placed on your employees.
Even if your crew is completely on board, keep a close eye on workloads to prevent anyone from overworking. Keep an open door so that a staff member who may be feeling overwhelmed can have an honest conversation with you.
Check your budget and your timeline for the viability of adding staff members in order to help with the workload. Just keep in mind this, too, could add to the loads your current employees are carrying as someone takes on training and onboarding.
Don’t be discouraged if your cash flow takes a bit of a hit as you push forward. Instead, keep in mind the long-term results that growing can have—and set reasonable markers to hit along the way. Growing your business is a long road and should be a mindful process. You aren’t running a race; instead, you are scaling a mountain with the most incredible views once you finally reach the top.
Is your business ready to grow? Contact us to create a marketing plan that will climb every step of the mountain with you.