As a business owner, it is your drive and passion that has got you where you are. It takes tenacity and determination to ensure adversity and market challenges don’t stop you from succeeding. It is this same attention to detail and focused approach that will help you grow your business from humble start-up to market leader. But will that be enough?

The owner of any company knows they cannot reach the very top without a little help. You might look to recruit top talent, drive trade negotiations, and implement the latest technologies. Perhaps you’ll develop new departments within your business to take on the workload and pressure so you can continue to focus on growth. The day-to-day operations of your business may become your manager’s role while you develop the next product for launch.

Developing good teams of talented employees takes time and resources. Consulting firms like hansenbeck.com specialize in it simply due to the complexity. You might have some key personnel on board already. Recruiting more requires a clear idea about the skillset and experience you want to bring into the fold. Would you be willing to offer on-the-job training? You might find a BA Business Management online course that could help you bring your most valued employees up to speed. Qualifying online offers the flexibility your company needs to make sure your team is still available for their duties.

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Bringing more people into the company involves expansion. This might demand a larger office space to accommodate them. Alternatively, you might be able to consider remote working. Managing remote workers doesn’t have to be much different than managing a team in the office. The dress code may be a little less formal, but that doesn’t mean your team won’t be giving you 100%. With no commute to contend with, chances are they’ll be less stressed and more energetic!

As your sales increase, you may find that some of your suppliers cannot keep pace with your demand. You may need to grow your supplier resource by adding more companies to your supplier list, or picking a new business to take care of all your needs. Manufacturers will have a limited capacity. If yours is too limiting for you, it might be time to move on.

What about your service delivery resource? This may consist of a customer service team, sales or retail outlet, and an online delivery system. You might have vans and drivers that simply can’t manage the increased orders. How will you grow this resource? You might choose to outsource your requirements to companies that specialize in that area. Perhaps you will invest in more inhouse resources to cope? Either way, forecasting your future orders and applying efficiency measures to your resources will help you predict what you will need.

Where can you start working toward growing your business? It might start with a marketing campaign. A good promotion can often increase orders. However, these are time-limited, and you won’t be able to offer that promotion for long. Continuous marketing efforts toward driving more traffic and footfall to your tills are essential. PR could be a big part of that. It will raise your profile and potentially give you a bigger voice in your marketplace. How can you generate this?

As the business owner, you are the face of your company, your brand, and your products. It’s important you remain in the public eye and positive light. Make yourself available for local community ventures, and find a charity that you feel strongly about. This kind of PR isn’t about the hard sell of your latest product. It’s about reminding the public about your existence. You should be providing a personality for your brand that is popular and in line with your product offering. You can ask a PR company to help you grow your public profile.

Growing sales can go far beyond a few advertising campaigns. Building a bigger sales force helps you grow your business through B2B channels. Look to engage resellers and other retailers for your product. Can you sell through other channels or affiliates online? With a good sales team, you might also be able to sell in bulk to companies looking for a white-label offering too. You may need to ensure your marketing team can develop the right materials to facilitate this.

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Growing your online presence can also lead to business growth. Are you making the most of social media? Using social media is free, although you may need to recruit one or two dedicated team members to maximize its effectiveness. You can build a customer community and provide customer services. You could also offer loyalty promotions to followers. Post articles about your products and services and how they are used by customers. A blog, for example, could help boost traffic to your website.

Managing your business is something you have excelled at so far. However, as your business grows, you may need to find people to help you manage each area of your business. This company is your baby. It’s worth investing in a training and education program that ensures new recruits are fully versed in your company ethics and practices. If you can’t manage this training provision yourself, why not recruit a specialist?

Over time, you may find your existing IT provision is inadequate for the volume of sales and number of users. You may have a wider product portfolio and bigger distribution network than before. Perhaps you’re concerned a growing public profile might render you at risk of online attacks from hackers. As your business grows, it is essential you continue to review the effectiveness of your technologies. They too may need to grow with you. You might have started with a server in your office. Now you need to go to high-security server farm to provide your intranet and online transactions.

Every successful company outgrows itself. The trick is to find what you need so you can grow into it rather than getting squeezed. Like a good sweater, most of your resources can stretch, but only so far. Grow your business by making sure you can grow the resources that power it.  




 

 



 

 

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