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Every Business Owner wants to see their enterprise grow with time, and as this growth happens, we realise we must grow along with it in order to sustain our new level and even grow further.
This week, I am answering questions from the Excel Woman Show on How to Scale Up a Business; Identify the right help for our Business; Outsource and Work with International Clients – all necessities that show up as an Enterprise grows!
If you are at this stage already, Read OR Watch to Learn, If Not, Still, Get Ready – Read / Watch and Learn!
QUESTION: How do I Manage my Business as it Grows to a Large Scale?
I will start by saying – SYSTEMS and PEOPLE!
1. Firstly, what you may need is a few automated systems to take the manual work out of your business routines.
It may be systems that can run reports for you instead of you creating them yourself, social media scheduling tools, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and so on. The use of intelligent systems in your business will help you to reduce overwhelm, save time and money, which will in turn allow you to focus on the most important aspects of the business.
2. Secondly, you may need more staff where the work has to be done by an individual or team of people. It may be a sales department, human resources, marketing or finance. This does not mean you need to hire an entire team of people at once, you can start with hiring one person and handling over the responsibility for that department and role to them. As the business grows, the departments can grow with it.
You may also choose to outsource the work that needs to be done to an outside agency. This may be cheaper for you at the beginning in comparison to hiring your own staff.
So, the answer is – more automated systems and people!
QUESTION: How do I Identify Employees who fit into the long-term Vision of my Business?
Pray About It: I personally speak to God about a lot of things. Nothing is too big or too small to take to your Heavenly Father. There is nothing we ask God that is a burden to Him. Nothing about us, is unimportant to him.
Interview and share your vision with them:
Plainly share your vision with them in various formats – written word, video and / one-to-one. You can then seek to find out if they buy into the vision or not.
Probationary Period: Start out with them on the basis of a probationary period, for example, four weeks, eight weeks, three or even six months. This probationary period would have been stated and agreed at the inception of the working relationship, that is, as at the time of their employment.
If during the probationary period, you discover the employee to be an ideal match for your business and vision, then you can decide to have them continue in employment with you. If the situation is contrary, you can hopefully end the employment on good terms as agreed as at the start of their employment.
QUESTION: How Can I get Help with my Business at affordable rates?
A number of us try to do everything ourselves when we are just starting out in business – while this is sometimes understandable because we are trying to save money, we may be wasting precious time spending days and weeks doing what could be completed by a professional in hours. A professional might also do a better job than us.
In essence, there are times when it would be wise to bring in help – for example, designing a website – this would probably be done faster and better by someone who is professionally trained and / has knowledge of this area.
If you are trying to save money as a new business and you need some work done professionally for you – look out for students in that field of expertise; they won’t ask for such high rates. Or volunteers who want to learn – they gain experience, while you get help with your Business. You may also be able to give such individuals a testimonial, as well as, recommend them to other business owners.
In conclusion, if you can’t afford to pay for help in your business yet, make use of the resources around you until when you can.
QUESTION: Is it advisable to Outsource and How?
Yes, It is advisable to outsource some of your business activities to outside agencies, such as – social media marketing, sales, website management and more, depending on your type of business.
Outsourcing will help you to reduce overwhelm in your business, as well as, focus on other core business activities.
There are several online websites where you can find freelancers (at a low cost) to outsource business and administrative activities too. Be sure to look at the reviews of the website and freelancer (the person you are allocating the work to) before going ahead.
QUESTION: How do I Manage my International clients?
Get to know your international clients more, as well as their culture. You can do some research online, read books and ask the relevant people around you who might possess the knowledge you require.
Getting to know your clients will enable you to satisfy their business needs and give them the excellent service they so desire.
Also, be sure to have agreed terms and conditions in writing so that you are operating at the same level of understanding.
Lastly, arrange to have regular telephone or online meetings to keep one another abreast of where you are with projects, as communication becomes even much more important when there is a lack of access to meet physically.
This blog post is an excerpt from “Women Do Business” book. GET YOUR COPY HERE
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