An essential part of a marketing strategy should be scaling your business for future growth. For those that don’t know what scaling is, it is essentially the practice of strategically laying the groundwork to support future growth in your business. When businesses expand, so does the demand of their products, services and employees. Proper scaling can help business grow without struggling to meet the higher demands of your increased customer load or additional responsibilities. Serious businesses should consider enlisting the help of experts in this scaling directly to consumer and tech companies such as Kevin Miller. Nothing can replace the help of an expert, but there are some things you can do to set the stage for proper scaling before bringing in the big guns. Keep reading to learn more!
Make Sure Your Costs are Low
First and foremost, make sure you keep your costs under control. There is a fine balance when it comes to planning your budgets for the following year. When thinking about growing your business, some expenses are going to be necessary and it may seem like you’re spending more. For example, launching new products and services can be a big initial cost for a business. But when thinking about scaling, you want to also think about what your ROI will be in the long run. Plan your budget according to what your growth goals are moving forward.
Optimize Your Schedule
If you’re spending tons of hours compiling data and tracking down suppliers, chances are you’re wasting valuable time you could be spending on bigger picture ideas and projects. Optimize your time by using a collaborative hub where you can plug in and automate some of your data compiling and spreadsheets. Simply having access to a collaborative, cloud based work space will save you and your team hours of headaches and unnecessary work. For scaling, this will help you make space for dealing with a larger volume of data and orders when your company grows to meet its expansion goals.
Reduce Lead Times
This is a big one, and a tricky challenge in the world’s current state. For those that might not know what lead times are, it’s the amount of time it takes for a customer to receive their product or service after the initial purchase. With supply chain issues affecting nearly every industry and inflation marking prices up, lead times are down for almost every kind of business as we enter the middle of the year. However, businesses still need to be able to rely on their projected lead times and find ways to reduce them. Some businesses might consider searching for local suppliers if your current supply chain is taking too long to meet your production demands. Relying on locally sourced materials can be a great way for businesses to reduce their lead times. Any business is going to need a reliable supply chain to scale and expand, so do some research into where your supply chain is seeing delays and if there are local options that will take less time.
Automation
These days, there are tons of ways to save time on day to day operations by automating certain processes like order fulfillment. As we mentioned earlier in this post, automating things like data collection and bookkeeping spreadsheets can help you save time, money and leave space to plan for growth rather than getting bogged down in the minute details of filing paperwork and compiling data yourself. Automating time consuming tasks makes a lot more room for a business growth and scaling plan.
Retaining Clientele
When thinking about launching a new product, service or app, your goal is going to be drawing in new customers. At the same time, you don’t want to alienate your current customers. Retaining clientele is an essential part of scaling, because you’re making room on top for new business to come in without disrupting your current customer base. All of the things mentioned in this blog post will help you make room for more waves of business growth without making your customers feel like they’re being left behind or not getting the service they’re used to. Make sure you have a plan for expanding your customer service offerings and keep your customer base happy as your plan for growth.
When scaling a company, whether it’s a D2C business or tech company, you want to think about making room for the growth you’re aiming for. Optimize your time by automating and delegating busy work, reducing costs and reducing your supply chain lead time. Remember that it’s a process that won’t happen overnight, but you can start taking steps to get there today! When you’re ready to take the next step, consider reaching out for a professional consultation to really push your business forward!
