Growing and scaling your business is really just as straightforward as counting on one hand! It sounds gimmicky, but it really can be that simple. The real question is “What 5 steps will best help me grow my business without adding more stress and work to my plate?”
Typically, as business owners, it feels like you have to work 10 times harder when the business is growing. And this applies even more in this current economic climate. Some business owners are working harder than ever just to get back to where they were before. It can be frustrating and overwhelming. Stress and overwhelm can cloud future planning and soon your “to-do” list seems endless.
How can you not feel overwhelmed? Clients come to ELC because they want a simple way to grow their business – without putting in a lot more hours to get it done.
We created the Red Thread Leadership program to simplify the growth process. We use just 5 simple steps to unlock your business growth – Purpose, Plan, Process, Positions, and Passion. When you work through these 5 steps, you eliminate the stress and overwhelm that comes from growing and scaling your business.
Growth vs Scaling a Business
There is a big distinction to be made in business between growth and scaling. Growing a business means increasing revenue by increasing capital, workforce, or even technology.
On the other hand, scaling a business is increasing profits by growing revenue without increasing your resources or costs. This can be done through competitive differentiation, innovation, recurring revenue models, and purpose-driven strategy.
Growing a Business
Growth traditionally occurs when you increase revenue by acquiring new clients, expanding to other locations, or hiring new staff. Revenue growth can potentially require more resources which can be difficult to maintain.
However, this is where the drawback is.
To maintain this kind of growth, you will need to increase your budget for marketing, HR, and other operational costs. Most leaders approach this kind of growth in a way that creates more stress and more complexity.
Scaling a Business
There’s a reason why present-day founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurial leaders are obsessed with scaling their businesses.
Scaling a business is the key to unlocking profitability and sustaining long-term growth. When you scale your business, you’re able to grow revenue without significantly increasing your costs.
Scaling your business becomes more crucial when you’re stuck between not being a startup anymore but not yet an enterprise.
This is the point where most businesses fail. And this is where switching over to a faster business scaling rate is crucial.
However, though this is a highly-coveted state for businesses, it doesn’t come without its challenges.
You need a precise plan and the ability to execute that plan in order to successfully scale your business.
Scale Your Business In 5 Easy Steps
1. Purpose
When you’re scaling your business, it’s important to have a clear brand purpose. Your purpose is your “why” – it’s the reason your business exists. This is what drives you and your team to achieve your goals.
Your purpose should be more than just making money. It should be something that motivates and inspires you to keep going, even when the going gets tough.
It also drives competitive advantage. According to research from Deloitte Insights, high-growth brands (those with 10% or more annual growth) are translating purpose into action in markedly different ways from their lower-growth peers. And 66% of those high-growth brands say their purpose inspires their product and service delivery.
A clear purpose will differentiate you from your competition and attract and retain the best talent for your team.
2. Plan
A well-thought-out plan is crucial for any business, especially when you’re scaling. You need to know exactly what you want to achieve and how you’re going to get there.
Your plan starts with strategy which leads to detailed and specific goals. It should include your milestones, targets, and KPIs. Without a plan, it’s easy to get sidetracked and lose focus on what’s important. This plan should be clear and well-defined so stakeholders and employees can understand it.
3. Process
As your business scales, you need to have systems and processes in place to drive profitability while keeping your business flexible and agile.
Your processes should be designed to help you scale quickly and efficiently. They should be scalable, repeatable, and automatable.
Automating processes and systems will help you save time and money. It’s also important to have standard operating procedures in place so everyone knows what they need to do and how they need to do it. SOPs can be especially effective when you’re outsourcing and you need them to fill in smoothly.
You also want to empower your team to discover and share opportunities for continuous improvement as you scale.
4. Positions
It’s important to have the best talent tackling the right tasks when you’re scaling your business. The last thing you want is to have someone in a position they’re not suited for. This will only lead to frustration and resentment.
When you’re hiring for positions, make sure you take the time to find the right person for the job. They need to be qualified and have the right skill set. But they also need to be a good fit for your company culture.
Build a company structure that works for you, your strategy, and your team. And don’t be afraid to make changes if something isn’t working. You can design an organizational structure that’s built to scale up front, so you don’t have to make as many changes along the way.
5. Passion
Last but definitely not least, to execute your scaling strategy and meet your goals, you need a winning team to get you there. Create a culture that goes beyond engagement with a passionate, winning team.
Gary Hamel writes in The Future of Management, “Passion contributes more toward value creation than any other human capability.”
Employees who are passionate about both their work and the organization they work for are more likely to stay long term, increase customer loyalty, and go the extra mile. This is what builds the high-performing culture that can scale your business beyond what you even thought was possible..
Ready To Get Started With The Red Thread Leadership Program?
Scaling your business doesn’t have to be complicated. By following these five simple steps, you can set your business up for success. All you need is the right mentorship and guidance to get started.
Our Red Thread Leadership program offers the tools, resources, and support you need to grow and scale your business. We’ll help you develop a clear purpose, create a solid plan, build efficient processes, organize the right team, and fuel your passionate culture.
Ready to get started?
