Business Growth | 6 – Signs that your Business is ready to Grow

Business Growth

Startups, especially those funded by outside investors, start the business with growth in mind. From recruiting staff and adding office space to increasing production, expanding services or extending product lines, at every stage of business growth, calculated risk taking must be consider into account, since expanding too soon can have serious consequences.

How do I know if my business is ready to grow? Business Growth Time

Luckily, there are some reliable indicators that will help you determine if you’re ready to scale; Look for these signs before expanding the horizons of your company.

1. You have reached or exceeded your goals

The main element that you have to check before considering the expansion is to have already reached all the previous objectives that you had proposed for a certain timeline. If you have barely reached them, then it is best to wait a couple of months to see if the trend holds or if it is increasing. If you spend several months surpassing your own expectations, then it is time to take a step forward and consider growth as something not only desired, but even necessary.

2. You have researched the market thoroughly

Expanding your business is one of the things you cannot do on a whim: many times, the ambition to have a bigger business is greater than the rationality of doing so when the time is right.

To know if your business is ready to be expanded, you must carry out an exhaustive market study: do you have enough target audience to justify the investment of growth? Will you have the capacity to meet demand without sacrificing quality? Can you keep the prices your customers are accustomed to?

3. I do not give up on homework

The main symptom that it is time to hire another member of the team is to realize that you are not satisfied with your workload: do you work more than 12 hours a day? Do you have complaints from your customers regarding a decrease in quality or a delay in service? Do you have multiple tasks per day? Do you have unanswered emails for more than a week?

There is a definite line between being busy and being overworked: if you have answered yes to any of the above questions, you are on the verge of jeopardizing your quality and reputation, so you have to hire an extra hand as soon as possible.

4. You are ready to delegate

Understandably you want to manage and monitor every aspect of running your business. However, delegating tasks and trusting others to do good work is a necessary condition for growth. Sometimes fresh ideas and new employee prospects are exactly what it takes to take your business to the next level so that when you begin to feel that you are ready to delegate, you will know that you are in a position to expand your business.

5. You are in need of developing more skills

The bigger your business, the greater the skills needed and the more remote the possibility that you can cover them all. Any business of medium or large size needs to work well in different departments: finance, legal, customer service, advertising and marketing, sales … what real possibility is there that you can cover all you alone?

While there are online service platforms that you can trust to get professionals to delegate certain tasks to, if you are in need of help to cover those departments, do not hesitate: it is time to grow.

6. You have managed to standardize and automate the key processes of your business

By owning a business, you may feel that you cannot leave your company unsupervised, but it is also beneficial: if your body and mind do not rest, your creativity and decision-making ability will suffer.

When your business depends on your physical presence for its optimal functioning, it means that you are an obstacle to its growth. You must build systems and establish standards that allow the development and growth of the business without jeopardizing the quality and key characteristics of the products and services you offer.