Growth is an exciting yet challenging ordeal. Despite being an indicator of success, growth also burdens you with the responsibility of gauging your company’s readiness to expand and sustain. During these times, it is wise to consider capacity and capability—do you have the capacity to expand and do you have the capability to sustain? If yes, read on to know more about scalability & how to do it right.
What is scalability?
Scalability is a trait that describes the capability of a business to deliver well under an increasing workload. A business that can scale efficiently will be able to enhance its performance, even when faced with huge outcome requirements. As mentioned above, scaling in business depends largely on two factors: capability and capacity. You have to ask yourself questions like: Is my business capable enough to grow? Does it have the capacity to handle growth? What if a minor mistake becomes the reason for your business to suffer? Miscommunication, insufficient staff, unfulfilled orders, these factors will result in nothing but unsatisfied clients.
In a business setting, scalability refers to the ability of the business to grow without being restricted by the available resources when production intensifies. In recent years, technology has made the idea of scalability more convenient in terms of market expansion, gaining customers, and scaling businesses. Still, many business owners are confused with the difference between scaling and growth. Let us discuss this further.
Growth VS Scaling
In simple terms, growth refers to a boost in revenue while scaling refers to the boost in revenue without increased production costs.
For example, a service-based firm has partnered with a new client. Since an increase in production is required, it might have to hire additional resources as the new client will bring forth more revenue to the business - that’s growth.
But, if the current staff is capable of delivering all the production requirements of the new client without additional resources, that’s called scaling a business.
Is there a need to scale up your business?
Technology has offered many opportunities for businesses and allowed many entrepreneurs with a platform to go global. The modern user-friendly applications have changed how people think about purchasing or interacting with a business.
You may not be interested in going global, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t develop by learning the latest techniques that help you grow your business. It will also help you to diversify your current services and products and open new branches in several locations.
When is the right time to scale your business?
According to Richard Branson, a very famous and successful global entrepreneur, “You never know with these things when you’re trying something new what can happen—this is all experimental.”
The “things” he refers to are the dynamic elements associated with scaling your business. There is no formula that will determine exactly when is the right time to scale your business. Nonetheless, there are certain indications to when it’s time to take the next step and scale your business.
Here are some indicators:
- When your leads continue to increase.
- When your employees can no longer handle the workload.
- When your numbers indicate that you’re good to go.
- When long-term business plans are unattainable.
- When you have a repeatable sales model that does not require urgent changes.
Other things that you should also ask yourself:
- Am I aware of my customer’s expectations?
- Am I ready financially?
- Is there sufficient demand for my service or product?
- Do I have the right team in place?
- Do I have the right processes in place?
- Am I updated with the latest technology?
Scaling a business has never been an easy process. Various organizations had to learn from tough experiences. However, their wisdom and relevant experience allowed us to execute scalability tactics and grow our entrepreneurial horizons with minimal effort in this progressive world.
