An entrepreneur client of mine has defined very ambitious objectives for his business: doubling the size (both revenue and staff) over the course of 1 year.
Such a plan has substantial implications. For instance: growing from 50 to 100 staff requires adding 1 new employee per week. Where can they find them? How to structure the company to short-list candidates, arrange job interviews, make recruitment decisions, onboard, and train the new people at that pace? Business expansion will impact the organization at all levels. Designing, executing, and maintaining an efficient scaling-up strategy is therefore critical.
Significant business growth triggers hundreds of questions.
For instance: How to generate revenue to sustain such growth? Are the goals still aligned with the company's purpose? How to structure the company as it expands? How many staff to add and in which departments? Whom to promote? Should a line of middle managers be hired? How to maintain productivity while expanding? How to keep all staff happy and engaged?
On top of that, the COVID19 pandemic has forced us to reinvent the way we work. The future is hybrid and entrepreneurs need to figure out the right office space model for their business.
Someone needs to ensure questions are raised, priorities defined, and problems resolved.
Such responsibility falls, you guessed it, on you, the company's founders.
However, let's be clear. It won't happen if you get yourself stuck in day-to-day operations.
I can't say it enough. When you're stuck, your business is stuck.
Scaling up requires that your role evolves towards less operational and more strategic responsibilities. The larger your company, the more strategic-focused your role becomes. Be careful, we easily get attached to stuff. So it's not easy to do but it's absolutely necessary.
“When you scale, you’re going all the way from getting the shit done, to making sure the shit is done, to then building an organization that can get that shit done.” Steve Melhuish, co-Founder of Property Guru Asia, on Inter:views, ep. 73.
Let me share 4 things you should not be afraid of doing when scaling up:
Let go. Recruit the best people and learn to trust them. Let them make decisions and be accountable for them.
Delegate more. Make a list of the operational tasks that fall under you, then assign them to the people who will do them better than you. Provide training if necessary.
Schedule strategic thinking sessions. Put yourself into a situation where you don't have the choice but to think about strategy and processes.
Seek external help. Talk to fellow entrepreneurs who've been through a scale-up phase. Hire a business coach to make you accountable and focus on results.
Are you a bit overwhelmed and not sure where to begin your scale-up plans? Let's talk about it. Schedule a 30mn Intro Chat with me.
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