Growing your business is the overarching goal. When we start out small we end up feeling dissatisfied, padding around in that small business pool. But this is when we invariably start to feel the need to prove ourselves so we can compete with the bigger companies. Upscaling your business is something that, when you do it right, will cause numerous positive changes.

In order for our business to survive and grow, we’ve got to find innovative methods to progress and when we end up finding the right process, we have to scale up in order to meet market demand, but what should we do to ensure that we scale up our business properly?

Anticipating the Logistics of the Operation

One of the biggest issues in upscaling your business is being able to invest in the right office that becomes your new base of operations. While we must remember that upscaling our business is about investing in new technologies and people, we must identify we have the framework in which to cope with it. It may very well be that you end up moving to a bigger office to accommodate newer members of staff and processes. Logistically speaking, this can be difficult if you’re not prepared for it. While there are services that can help out there such as bin hire companies to help you dispose of everything safely, when you start to prepare yourself for the logistics, the business can suffer without adequate planning. Consistent communication with your staff and your customers will be crucial.

Understanding Your Customers’ Needs

There will likely be disruption to services when you are upscaling. Because it’s your customers that have been the progenitors of your success you’ve got to put yourself in their shoes and think about what your actions will do to their perception of the business at this time. While you may very well anticipate a little bit of downtime you’ve got to make sure that the transition is as smooth as possible. It always helps to have a comprehensive business scaling plan but one of the biggest oversights when making changes to the business is that we don’t focus on how it looks from the outside. You don’t necessarily have to restructure your business model, but you need to anticipate your customers’ needs throughout every step of the process.

Ensuring You Know the Pace of Adjustment

Slow and steady wins the race, or does fast and furious get you there quicker? When you start to get a good idea of how the adjustment is going down, you need to recognize the period of change. Helping your employees through this adjustment period is as important as making sure the business is thriving throughout this adjustment. There can be a change that goes on for too long which can result in a lot of consternation among the ranks. Once you start to have a better idea of the adjustment time frame you can manage your employees’ expectations. As well as this, you can put procedures in place to help your employees thrive during this uncertain time. A very good example would be to implement remote working so productivity doesn’t wane at this juncture.

Is Your Brand Growing With the Size of the Business?

You might have already started your company with the mindset that you promote your small business as if it is a big one. This may very well be the reason that your business has expanded. But if we have spent so long operating with a startup mindset and we are now making the transition to a full LLC, we’ve got to practice what we preach. Your original business plan has already made adjustments for these big changes but if you don’t start to market yourself as a bigger entity you may be doing your products and your customers a disservice. It’s not just about a bigger budget. Growing your brand is about using your newfound stance to facilitate change inside and outside of the office. Growing your business will always serve you well if you align with specific contemporary issues. For example, if you are looking to adjust your business to benefit the planet and minimize single-use plastics this needs to become part of your promotional materials. You have to shout your business from the rooftops, not just in terms of your products, but in terms of what you are doing to make significant inroads for the benefit of people and the planet.

Hiring Newer Members of Staff

Upscaling your business means that you are going to need to bring new people on board. The first thing that you need to do while upscaling your operations is to address the weak components. At this point, you should ask for feedback from your team about how they are feeling during the scaling-up process, but you also need to make sure that you monitor their performance. If they are resistant to change, there won’t be much progress in place. In fact, it may result in a deficit of sorts. You need that insight into people’s abilities, not just in terms of productivity but also in terms of their character and if they are going to be able to help you during the next stage. Once you’ve made the decision to grow your business you need to make sure that you hire people that will reflect positive performance and change. This means you’ve got to hire the right leaders that you can depend upon. Trust is crucial but you also need to remember that when you are hiring people during times of change that the ground can move beneath your feet. It’s down to you to communicate the overarching theme and the bigger picture so everybody is on the same page.

Implementing Better Processes

It is the perfect opportunity to improve the smaller components of your business. While it’s never easy to encourage autonomic working when you’ve built up this business with your own two hands, autonomic working isn’t necessarily about handing the reins over to the employees. Instead, think about implementing processes that can encourage self-sufficiency. Automation is one of those components that is spoken of a lot but it’s critical to the next stage of your development if you don’t have it in place already. Automation is something that can help your social media as well as your relationships with your customers and is something that works across the board. We have to remember that it can take some time upfront to implement these tools but there are plenty of resources out there to help you. Automation is the sign that your business is able to operate by itself. We have to remember that automation is something that will improve processes across the board. And at the same time, we must remember that during this period of change we begin to delve deep into the smaller processes. Implementing a process can take time; we have to do this one bit at a time.

Making Sure You Are Prepared for the Changes

As the leader, you are the person spearheading the changes. Are you prepared? It isn’t just about making sure that you put all the relevant tools in place, but you are the glue that binds the business together. Having a plan is crucial but it’s also about understanding your own emotions while going through a period of incredible change. It’s never an easy thing to navigate but this is why we have to make sure we’ve got the internal strength in place. Making sure that you are prepared for the changes is about addressing your own leadership qualities but also looking at how it’s affecting your stress levels. It’s never an easy thing to cope with because you feel you need to keep track of every little component. But this is where delegating becomes essential. You need to surround yourself with the right people that can support you during times of change. We may feel that we’ve built up the business by ourselves so we need to continue operating in this fashion or face the consequences. But as a company changes we have to change along with it. This may mean we’ll have to make significant alterations to who we are.

Learning to upscale and make considerable changes to any company is about so many different plates spinning at the same time that it can threaten to undermine any experienced leader. We must remember that in order to push forward that we have to explore new territories. This is just in relation to the business but it could be within ourselves as well. And as we begin to put the things in place that will improve our company and our services we must remember to enjoy what’s going on. As an entrepreneur that starts out in smaller circles, there could be that temptation to remain static. But as we start to improve our bottom line and hire new and exciting employees, that idea of change is inevitable every so often. If you are to truly make an impact in your business you must remember that scaling up is an inevitability, but it’s something that you should welcome with open arms.