Who ever thinks about scalability? It’s the problem we all hope to have: business is booming! You’re feeling that you’ve built your business right and that there’s nowhere to go but up, up, up – but you have a single hard truth to face: I can’t do this alone. Oh, to have such problems, right?
We've talked about the power of having influence and now it's time to plan for putting that influence into action. If you’re building a business, you need to build it so it’s scalable. We have no problem doing this in our personal lives. Heck – we do it all the time without even realizing it! We hire a plumber, a pool guy, a kid from the neighborhood to mow our yard. Friends help us move and there are those “special” guys who fix the brakes on our car.
Well, your business needs “the guy,” or “the woman” too. As a matter of fact, you might need more than that! Here are 5 things to consider when building your business so it’s a model in scalability from the get-go:
- Know what you love to do: Your business has several moving parts. Identify those that light your fire and set aside the rest on your “wish list” for others to manage for you.
- Make connections: When you’ve started that “wish list,” begin looking for people who can handle those things for you. You may not need them today or tomorrow, but knowing them ahead of time will keep you from making hasty decisions in a pinch.
- Don’t waver: You founded your business to do something, fill a need. Don’t try to be a one-stop shop. Scaling is easier when you have a focused goal in mind.
- Crunch the numbers: Scaling means hiring employees or outsourcing to contractors. If your rates don’t let you pay someone and still make a profit, you need to rethink your rates.
- Establish procedures: When you’re ready to scale, it’s easier to do if you have set procedures to follow for those elements you’re going to delegate. It helps your helping hand find a center and it helps you understand what to expect – because you’ve SAID what you expect and when!
