When you’ve reached the point of scaling your business, it’s important to understand precisely what assets, resources, and expertise are needed to effectively grow it to the next level. This means not just what you need to invest money into, but who you need on your side. Given how different scaling plans can look from business to business, there is no specific blueprint to follow. However, take a look at your scaling plans, your needs, and compare them to the list of potential partners here who can make a meaningful difference towards successful growth.
Funding Providers
They might not exactly be partners in the traditional sense, but most companies aren’t able to scale unless they can find the funding they need to pay for all of the resources and assets involved in their transformation. Building up your own scaling fund can work, but access to funding through business loans, banks, and other solutions can make it much more accessible and help you hit that opportunity when it’s most relevant. Expansion typically requires a lot of capital to pay for equipment, facilities, staff, marketing, and some other needs that we’re going to address here. Take the time to figure out how much you need, put together a pitch or business plan to communicate your viability as a borrower, and research your funding options.
Business And Financial Consultants
You may think that you have the track record of success to ensure that you’re able to keep up with the smart moves going ahead, but that pride can easily lead to a fall. If you want to avoid costly missteps and ensure sustainable growth, then finding some expert guidance can make a big difference. Look to business consultants, especially those who have a track record of successfully scaling their own businesses, to help you refine operations and develop systems that are more suited to long-term growth. Financial advisors and accountants can also make sure that you’re using your funding in the most effective way possible, assessing investment risks and financial models to ensure that you’re able to make decisions more effectively.
Commercial Real Estate Agents
Although it’s not always necessary, scaling typically does involve moving to new facilities. Whether you’re simply scaling upwards and need a bigger work environment or you’re opening up locations in new areas, doing it with the help of commercial real estate experts can help you avoid some of the snags that growing businesses commonly hit. Having those equipped with the expertise and tools to find prime locations can make a big difference in terms of your new property’s visibility, accessibility, and cost. They can also provide help with zoning laws and make sure that any purchases can also meet your potential future growth needs, as well. Simply put, trying to move to a new location is a lot more work and likely to be a lot more costly without a property expert working in your best interest.
Recruitment Agencies
Expanding businesses also typically grow their team to handle the increase in production and service provision across the board. Growing your team doesn’t mean simply expanding every team across the board, equally, however. So you need to work out which talent you’re in need of, and make sure that you’re hitting the right markets to attract those best suited to the work. Professional recruitment agencies can help, not only by providing access to specific fields of skilled professionals, but also by greatly accelerating the hiring process. They can handle screening and background checks, ensuring that you’re able to get people with the skills and attitude you need much more smoothly.
Marketing And Branding Teams
While scaling may eventually involve bringing all of your marketing needs in-house, when you’re in the middle of growing your business, you need to be actively focusing on growing the visibility and reach of your brand. After all, you need to generate the revenue necessary to sustain your bigger, improved business and to start paying back any funding you acquired. A skilled marketing team can ensure that your brand is able to reach the next level, to reach new customer segments, and to maintain the loyalty of your current base as your operations expand. Finding the right marketing agencies ensures brand identity remains cohesive even as you’re releasing new products or opening up in new locations. If you’re going international, you may also want to consider working with localization experts to make sure that your brand hits as it should.
IT & Tech Providers
The vast majority of businesses rely on digital tools to some extent and as you grow, your reliance on these tools is only likely to keep growing. This doesn’t just mean that you’re going to have more computers in your office; it can mean that you need to implement new infrastructure, such as hosting data centers, migrating to the Cloud, or building new internal networks. IT managed service providers can make sure that you have the systems that you need to meet your business’s growing needs, as well as integrating the security and backup solutions required to keep your business safe and compliant.
Logistics And Distribution
If you’re going to be in the business of producing, storing, and delivering more goods, then it’s very likely that you’re going to have to level up your logistics, as well. Working with supply chain consultants and warehousing providers can make sure that you’re able to handle the growing demand for your goods, ensuring a consistent and reliable flow of your products from where they begin to where they need to go. If you’re looking at expanding globally, then international freight service providers are going to play an important role as well. Growing your business also offers the opportunity to invest in new advanced tracking systems and predictive analytics so that you can more effectively track demand, too.
Scaling is a big deal. Get it wrong and it’s not just a setback, it can mean the end of your business. As such, make sure that you have the expertise and manpower you need to make it through.
