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One of the most difficult parts of being a business owner is juggling different roles while trying to grow your business. You have to invest time, money, and energy into your company, but it’s more than worth it when you achieve success as a business owner.
So, here are some tips to help you not only grow your small business but to continue to maintain that growth.
Photo by Samson on Unsplash
Healthy Vs Unhealthy Growth
Surely if your business is growing, it’s doing well, right?
Well, not necessarily. While growth is generally a good sign, there is such a thing as unhealthy growth. No growth at all is unhealthy, but so is growing too fast. If your company suddenly grows in one avenue but not any others, it’s uneven and can lose balance.
This means that your business can’t support its own growth. This can cause it to falter or even collapse, which can be very damaging if it’s bloated in some ways. For example, if you quickly get more customers, your company can be overloaded. You might then hire more employees to cope with the extra workload.
But if demand slows down again, you now have more costs than your business can support.
The idea is instead to grow your business steadily and evenly, making sure that you make well-thought-out business decisions rather than grabbing blindly at every opportunity.
Information is Power
One way to grow your business healthily is to keep your finger on the pulse of the latest business news and trends. Social media is a fantastic tool because you learn about your consumers and their interests.
Ideally, you should be able to keep ahead of trends. This way, you can capitalize on what’s popular without getting caught up and losing money because you hit the wave too late. It’s better to miss a trend than to lose money this way.
You should also look at other businesses and relevant news. For example, the upcoming Freshstream case might be interesting to small businesses that are considering making a deal with a larger company. You can learn from legal matters, as well as from potential mistakes or wise investments of other businesses.
Employing the Right People
As your business grows and becomes more complex, you may need to hire more employees to keep up with demand. One common mistake is to hire the first people who come along.
Hiring is an investment in and of itself, so hiring employees is a major business decision. The wrong person can waste money, interfere with interpersonal relationships, and even slow down production rates rather than improve them.
When hiring an employee, first define the role you need them to fill. This way, you can accurately work out what kind of person you need, as well as what qualifications and skills they should have. From there, you can screen potential candidates and even work out a fair and appropriate wage.
Often, the adage is to hire slow and fire fast. Give people time to get settled, but make sure you’ve got the right person before moving on.
