Scaling Your Business Through Adversity

You’ve no doubt been running a business for a few years and are enjoying a certain level of success. But maybe you sometimes feel that things are a little out of control. You might even be feeling overwhelmed, or not sure if you’re doing things right. You may have got where you are without even realising quite how you got there and are wondering how do you manage the next steps? And how do you keep control of things? You may be increasingly coming across challenges managing time, team stress or cashflow pressures; perhaps you also have half an eye on wanting to make sure you’re building a valuable business, the kind of business that someone might want to buy at some point. And you may be wondering if your business is in fact scalable. 

 

It is important to constantly look for growth or scaling opportunities incase of setbacks such as a recession, for instance. As a business owner, somebody who has put in a lot of time and effort into this project that has mostly likely become a huge part of your life, you naturally would be keeping an eye out for improvements. These improvements, constantly having a mindset for moving forward and progressing is your greatest defense against adversity. 

 

For instances like recessions there are other actions to take on the side of safeguarding as well. It is all well and good to improve your way out of a ditch and become unstoppable but it is also good to remember that there are certain methods to make sure that your business does not suffer more than it has to during economical downturns. These measures can be anything from moderating your overheads to diversification to building stronger relationships. 

 

Scaling a business is not easy. And by now, you probably realise that there isn’t one simple tip or magic bullet that is suddenly going to deliver phenomenal success. And the stats prove it: half of startups fail within 5 years, two thirds within 10. And of all businesses 99.3% remain with less than 50 employees, and in fact, nearly 96% remain with less than 10 employees. In our experience of working with hundreds of business owners like you over the last few years, there are two things that separate out those that successfully scale from those that do not.  

 

Firstly, they work to a proven system and with strategies to scale and build value, including an understanding of the ScaleUp Journey and the difference from linear growth. In other words, they properly plan and execute scaling up and don’t just drift into growth. Secondly, 

they understand and harness the power of peer-to-peer working, working monthly with a small group of like-minded business owners that act as a sounding board of their peers to share their experiences, and help to overcome barriers to scaling up along the way. They also keep each other accountable to the key things that will scale their business and avoid them getting distracted. An old African proverb sums this up nicely: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together'. 

 

 

For more guidance on scaling up check out the Entrepreneurial ScaleUp System. 

See how you can get involved in peer support by emailing us at admin@biz-smart.co.uk