Expanding your business is a thrilling milestone that represents a high level of success. However, a rapid business expansion can come with hidden risks when your team becomes overwhelmed. Overloading your employees can cause anxiety and burnout, leading to mistakes, lost productivity, and stalled momentum. It doesn’t have to be this way.
This article will outline six strategies that support sustainable growth without pushing your team to the limit.
1. Invest in offsite storage services
Anything that improves the efficiency of your business processes and tasks is worth the investment. You’ll only gain traction when all your gears are moving in the same direction and sources of resistance are limited. For example, if you store raw materials on your company’s property, continuing to do so will slow down your rapid business expansion. Your needs will only grow and become complicated as you expand. Besides, managing bulk storage is not only cumbersome – it’s dangerous.
With common issues like failed silos, collapsed piles, and exploding combustible dust, it’s worth paying professionals for offsite warehouse storage. Check to see if your milling company offers bulk storage services and get your materials delivered as needed.
2. Set clear and scalable goals
When employees don’t know where the company is headed, it creates high uncertainty and sometimes distrust. Defining clear objectives will create a trustworthy foundation for scaling without inducing unnecessary chaos.
- Break down big goals into short-term milestones. Milestones connected to a goal are the only way to know when you’re on track, but milestones need to be achievable short-term. When teams have a series of short-term goals, the overall goal becomes easier to reach in incremental steps. This keeps motivation high and helps teams stay focused on their assigned priorities.
- Align goals across departments. Goals should align throughout all departments. Misaligned goals can cause double work and confusion. To smooth this out, hold regular meetings with all teams to ensure everyone is on the same page.
3. Optimize workflows before scaling
If you attempt to scale with inefficient workflows, it will only create more problems. It’s best to fix workflows first and then scale. Automation can help with this process.
- Optimize workflows through automation. Identify repetitive tasks that can be automated, like scheduling, reporting, and notifications. Then, set your team up with the software required to implement the automation. For example, it could be as simple as using your CRM application to schedule appointments for your sales team automatically. Whatever you automate, put it in place and test it thoroughly before you scale.
- Make sure your software is scalable. Ensure that all the applications you use to automate tasks can handle a higher volume of work without requiring a significant additional investment. When you scale, if you’re using cloud-based apps, you’ll need significantly more computing resources.
4. Hire and delegate early
Many companies have adopted the philosophy of being “slow to hire and fast to fire.” While this makes sense under normal circumstances, you won’t have time to hire slowly as your company expands. Don’t fall into the trap of waiting too long to expand your team. If you do, you’ll overwhelm your existing employees with unmanageable workloads that will lead to burnout and possible resignations.
- Keep roles filled. Do your best to forecast when you’ll need more team members, and be proactive about hiring. Keep roles filled at all times to ensure workloads remain normal.
- Hire leadership positions. If you’ve never had middle managers, you’ll need them when expanding.
- Delegate responsibilities. Avoid micromanaging at all costs. It will only hold you back. Instead, delegate meaningful responsibilities to your teams so your leaders can focus on higher priorities.
5. Communicate clearly
Ambiguity is a natural part of growing a business, but it can result in confusion that might derail your growth. Communicating clearly and continuously with your employees is important for staying on track. This is easily accomplished by holding regular meetings, sharing updates, asking for feedback, and creating transparent project timelines that employees can follow.
6. Don’t encourage an overstretched team
Stretching your team too thin is a big risk with fast growth. Under normal circumstances, some employees embrace overtime, but overtime can become a burden during a rapid business expansion. It might start with a few hours a week; before you know it, your employees work from home all night. Check in with your team to ensure they’re okay, give them some self-care days if needed, and lighten their load when necessary.
Sustainable growth is a team effort
Rapid business expansion doesn’t need to cost your team’s well-being. Strategic planning, clear goals, optimized workflows, and direct communication can ensure a successful business expansion.
Image Credit: Photo by Benjamin Child; Unsplash
