When companies grow, even from two to three people, we immediately experience hundreds of complexities. As I’ve seen in my own experience and in coaching others, Scaling Up your company can be a big mess!
But there are 3 key factors that make the process of Scaling Up your company 10x easier.
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Leadership
As your leadership team grows, you have to learn to let go of the day-to-day decision-making. There are two important aspects in structuring that Leadership team: hire well, and train well.
We often feel so desperate for talent that we hire the 1st person who can do the job. But the reality is the right person needs to embody the values of the company and possess all the competencies required, not just have experience in a specific area.
An even bigger mistake is the lack of quality training for our teams. Your leadership needs to grow one step faster than the company. Yet we see CEOs and Entrepreneurs spend $10-200K on their own education, while only spending an average of $1K on education for their leaders. Often we think that in order to grow, our teams need to put their heads down and execute… what we really need to do is give them the right resources to continue learning and growing with the business.
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Scalable Infrastructure
Cash is always going to be a big concern for entrepreneurs. But as you scale up, it is absolutely critical to invest money and resources as needed to set up the right systems to grow your company. You need to set up proper systems for accounting, project management, customer communication, and more. Without robust, scalable infrastructure, your execution will falter and you’ll end up with disgruntled customers and frustrated employees; in the long run you’ll end up losing money.
If you aren’t ready to invest in a large-scale infrastructure tailored to your business. That’s okay! Services like Zendesk, Slack, Quickbooks are great tools to help you take the first step before you’re ready to build or purchase your own customized systems.
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Marketing Effectiveness
Marketing is an essential to attract the right customers, partners, investors, and talent. Too often, the marketing team is seen as support for the sales team. But effective marketing can help attract the right customers, not just the low-hanging fruit, and keep the company focused on growth and profitability. In addition, it is important to remember that marketing is used to attract partners, investors, and employees as well. Think of it as Scaling Up your relationships!
Leadership, infrastructure, and marketing all play vital roles in handling the new levels of complexity that your business will experience as you grow. Failure to focus on these three key factors will risk a collapse rather than growth.
Want to know more about how you can scale up your business. Check out Verne Harnish's Online Master Course, here.
