So your business is doing all right, ticking over quite nicely, and the money’s coming in. Which is great. Let’s face it, there are not many businesses that make the grade, so the fact that you’re doing ok is an achievement that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
But perhaps that’s not enough.
You don’t want to stay still, but grow your business. Take it to the next level and scale it up. Which is great! Setting yourself ambitious business goals will help you to keep on track and knowing where you want to get is a good start! But how to get there? How do you get out of the comfort zone and scale up the business, and all without shelling out too much cash, as you don’t want to go backwards!

A key part of scaling up is acknowledging that you need support – after all, as the business gets bigger, you won’t be able to do everything, so you must learn how to relinquish control to others. It’s crucial to get the right people in place, so that you can be confident that the day-to-day running of the business is in capable hands.

And in order to do that, you have to be crystal clear about your brand and vision, so that you can share it with your employees. They need to be on the journey with you, and know that they are essential for you to be able to achieve your goals. They need to understand what it is that makes your business what it is, sometimes referred to as the brand essence. They need to live and breathe your business as much as you.

Of course, this all takes time, so growing a business isn’t going to happen overnight.
But, aside from physically growing the business in terms of increasing staff there are other ways in which you can help to take your business up a notch without breaking the bank; try implementing some of these recommendations, and you should see some results while you get more permanent solutions in place as discussed above.

Rather than thinking about branching out into a new market, or adding new product lines, a more cost effective way to increase sales is to focus on your existing customers. For example, do you contact them post purchase or after you have completed your contract with them? Offer them an incentive to buy from you again? Think about it, the hard work has been done, these guys are your fans, they know what you offer, have bought and were pleased with the result. So it won’t be as much work to entice them back again. Think about how your offering could extend to encourage them back, an upgrade, additional extra, etc. And perhaps offer a discount for being a loyal customer. Your customers are your best asset, treat them well, and they will repay you in return. Not only in terms of repeat business, but they could also act as your marketing department by spreading the word to their family and friends about how good you are.

Ensure you take time to know your customers. Not just existing ones, but also prospects. Keep up to date with what they like and dislike. How their habits are changing. Not only will this give you additional ideas on how to increase your business offering, but it will also save you from going into decline. Think about companies like Sony or Motorola who didn’t keep up with the technology and lost out big time to Apple and LG. Or Blockbuster is also another great example, failing to take into account that consumers wanted to downloaded films, and that, ultimately, lead to its demise. Getting to know your customers and keeping your finger on the pulse will help you keep one step ahead of your competitors, allow you to diversify and innovate, making you top choice in your industry.

And of course, there’s no way that you are going to double your profits if you don’t have systems and processes behind you. A good business plan, forecasting and management of cash flow is vital for you to work out if all of this is affordable, you have the capacity and that you aren’t just ‘going with it’ to see if it works, and then finding yourself without a back-up plan if it doesn’t.

A good accountant will help you plan for growth, not only in terms of crunching figures, but putting a strategy together with you, even working with you to secure finance etc. if you need. An accountant is more than just a calculator or a filler-in of spreadsheets, so if you want to scale your business, then it’s important to have your accountant involved at every step.