Quick growth is something that every start-up entrepreneur wishes for but getting the rapid growth that you want and managing it well is often much easier said than done. If you’ve ever been part of a start-up that’s experienced rapid growth, then you’ll know exactly how it is. On the one hand, your company is starting to make a name for itself and you’re dealing with a large increase in sales, however, on the flip side, you now need to do a lot of scaling, leading to inevitable organizational changes. Regardless of whether the acceleration has been beneficial or detrimental for your business, it’s important to be able to sustain these challenging changes. So, we’ve put together some of the best strategies for managing a fast-growing company.
#1. Keep Your Customers Happy:
No matter what stage of growth your start-up is currently in, it’s important to never stop listening to your customers. Customers are the people who will provide you with the most relevant ideas, immediate feedback, and money in your company’s pocket. Today’s customers are increasingly happy to help with ideas and suggestions via social media, and at the end of the day, they are paying your bills. So, come up with a formal approach to how you will listen to your customers and act on the input that they provide.
#2. Have the Right Team:
It cannot be emphasized enough just how important it is to have the right team of people working for you at this crucial time. In order to sustain the growth that your start-up is experiencing, you’ll need to be backed up by a team of people who are passionate about making things happen for the company and working to enable it to reach all short-, medium- and long-term goals. It will be your team who steer the business to success, so it’s crucial to understand the importance of hiring team members who are smarter than you. Recruit and hire the best people available to run all of the different departments; this will allow you to focus on the overall strategy.
#3. Consider Financial Implications:
As your company rapidly expands, there will likely be a number of financial implications that you will need to consider. If you have outstanding debts owed to you, it’s important to collect these quickly. Reduce costs by eliminating any unnecessary overheads, and keep customers interested by dropping prices by around 10-15% whilst offering discounts for prompt or upfront payments. In addition, now is the time to consider refinancing or borrowing money. The amount that you’ll borrow will, of course, depend on a number of factors. If growth has led to the need for larger changes to be made, now may be the time to consider applying for a business loan. A good loan can provide you with favorable rates, while injecting your business with the money it needs to grow operations.
#4. Find a Mentor:
For new entrepreneurs, dealing with a start-up that is experiencing rapid growth can be very overwhelming. So, it’s a great idea at this time to find a mentor who is experienced and can offer you advice and guidance to make the most of the growth and achieve the business success that you have been working towards. A mentor who has extensive experience as an entrepreneur or top-level business executive can take a lot of weight off your shoulders; you will be able to benefit from their experiences. Bear in mind that some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Richard Branson have benefitted from the help of mentors along the way.
#5. Break Your Long-Term Goals Down:
Rapid growth tends to mean one thing – you’re close to meeting your long-term goals. However, what you do from now is very important when it comes to whether or not your business is going to actually achieve the objectives that you have set for it. Now is the time to consider setting medium-term goals – consider your long-term objectives and missions and put together a series of medium-term goals to hit along the way. When your company grows too quickly, it can be easy to overlook these medium-term objectives because you have been forced to change goals. Many leaders of fast-growing businesses change their goals often and fail to complete a plan before starting the next one, which eventually leads to problems.
#6. Eliminate the Unnecessary:
Last but not least, it’s time to look around and ‘de-clutter’ your business, whilst adding on factors that will support the fast growth and acceleration. At this point, there will be lots of things that used to work which simply don’t work anymore, so it’s time to get rid of them and replace them with something that is more suitable at this stage. Whether you cut back on paperwork or eliminate a sales process that once worked, reviewing and replacing is an important strategy at this stage.
If you found these strategies helpful, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.