Are You Ready to Scale_ a Checklist
When you first started your business, what was the first thing that you thought about?
If it was dreams of being the next Uber, Amazon, or worldwide brand- you are certainly not alone. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners have lovely daydreams about the wonderous places that their businesses can go.
Knowing when you’re ready to scale is one of the most important parts of running your own business. Scale too soon and you could find yourself with lots of loose ends that could trip up your whole business model. Scale too late and you could miss out on opportunities. How do you know when it’s right to scale?
First, let’s define what “scaling” is. Essentially, it’s the ability to handle more work while sustaining an infrastructure that supports your growing needs. One of the biggest things that trip up companies that are looking to scale is their inability to keep up with infrastructure demands. That’s why it’s imperative to partner up with a company that can help support you while you do the important work of taking your business to the next level. Both (v)WeCare and Telgoo5 have sophisticated infrastructure that is designed to be flexible enough to scale with even rapidly growing companies. We also have skilled call center reps that will take care of your customers without missing a beat.
Once you’ve let a customer service outsourcing company like (v)WeCare or Telgoo5 take care of the backend for you, how do you know when it’s time to take the leap and scale?
You Have Your Audience Down Pat
One of the commandments of scaling is to know thy audience. Each demographic and niche is different, so your product and message must be tailored to your specific audience. Knowing what your audience wants, and more importantly, how you are uniquely positioned to serve their needs, is one of the first things that you understand before you scale.
Scaling often involves ramping up your marketing efforts, so not knowing your audience would seriously cramp your business growth in the future. Be sure that you know your audience inside and out before you even think about scaling.
You Are Benefiting from Strong Word of Mouth Accolades
Word of mouth is one of the best forms of advertising, and it is far outpacing brand loyalty as the number one way that Milennials choose the products and services that they want. If you are generating strong word of mouth buzz, great! That means that you’re doing something right. It also means that you are poised to scale.
You Already Have a Loyal Customer Base
If you have no customer base what are you scaling up from? You need to have a base that already buys your product or service and is willing to be a brand ambassador for you. All companies will deal with some customer leakage over the course of their tenure, so it’s important to make sure that your base is as solid as possible before taking the next leap forward.
You Are Seeing a Steady Pattern of Growth
When it comes time to scale, it’s far better to work off existing momentum than to try to create that momentum from scratch. If you’re already in a pattern of growth, you’re in a far better position to scale than if you’re stagnant. The growth pattern shows that you have a viable business that people are interested in.
Building on a growth pattern is fairly simple. Introduce a new product into the mix, consider increasing your marketing efforts, or simply try to upsell your existing base. There are no fast and hard rules for scaling. Each company is different, but all of them hinge on your ability to provide an excellent customer experience while growing your company.
Are you ready to scale? If so, consider taking some of the administrative tasks off your plate and turning to a company like Vcare for your customer service needs.