It’s a defining moment in the history of your business, and one that perhaps shapes your own future. After all, get a growth plan right, and you could be well on your way to a path of riches. Get it wrong, and you’ll join the many businesses who fail at this hurdle.
There’s no doubt that a degree of shrewdness enters the picture here, though. It’s here where you have to be smarter than ever before, and not bite off more than you can chew, so to speak.
In truth, there are countless mistakes that you can make when you are attempting to grow your business and through today’s piece, we will take a look at some of the most common faux pas’.
Mistake #1 – You hire too quickly
When you take the plunge to expand, it would be fair to say that one of the first thoughts that a lot of people have is to jump on the hiring bandwagon. Sure, there are most definitely times when this is admirable, but at the same time you can engage in long-term commitments a bit too prematurely. Before you know it, you have a fixed, permanent cost, that isn’t going away.
As such, ask yourself if now is truly the right time to hire someone, or if you can get away with a freelance worker or maybe even a simple restructure.
Mistake #2 – You rent too quickly
By the same token, another common mistake is renting (or even buying) premises too quickly. Sure, you might be anticipating a greater demand following your increased activity, but that doesn’t mean to say that you have to commit to a long-term contract that is going to drain your bank account every month.
Instead, look for in-between solutions. There are countless storage options that you can tap into – and they don’t carry the big bills that large warehouses and the like have.
Mistake #3 – You forget about cash flow
A guide based on growing businesses wouldn’t be complete without a mention of cash flow. If you ignore this issue, there’s every chance that things will quickly grow out of control. Sure, you will attract plenty of new customers, but the payments won’t be forthcoming.
As such, make sure you stay on top of this, and insist on strict payment terms from day one.
Mistake #4 – You get stuck to your road map
First and foremost, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a plan. In fact, it’s pretty essential for most walks of business.
The problems start to arise where you refuse to deviate from said plan. You have your product road map – and that’s the end of the matter. The upshot of this is that you start to ignore your customers and the feedback you are getting. Sure, you might be releasing products left, right and center – but are you just following what you initially set out to do, or have you adapted based on the results?