4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Scale Up Their Start-Ups

Thinking about scaling your startup? This certainly isn’t an easy task, but if you have already recorded increased profits, then you’ve come a long way since launching and you’re definitely ready to scale. 

Don’t know where to start? In this post, we’re helping you with some useful tips that will help you prepare to scale your startup. 

1. Develop a Solid Strategy

Developing a solid strategy doesn’t mean developing a complicated one. Make sure to include your startup’s weaknesses and strengths, as well as its prospects. Then, based on this info, set quarterly objectives, as well as one bigger, annual objective. Don’t forget to include market analysis, as well as details about investors. 

While you’re still at the preparatory phase, don’t hesitate to ask for help or advice. Turn to business owners who have already managed to scale their startups or experts in your industry. In addition, consider attending events for startup owners as they can be very helpful for entrepreneurs who want to scale their business. 

2. Pick the Right Employees

Scaling a business means hiring more employees. In order to build a strong team and avoid hiring surplus staff, make a list of your essential tasks; anything else can be outsourced. Bear in mind that in-house staff is more common for large businesses  – they have their own developers, designers, lawyers, copywriters, etc. Startups and small businesses don’t necessarily need to hire an employee for every task. At this point, outsourcing could be a great solution. 

Another thing to consider when building your team is to hire people for tasks that cannot be done by machines. If you want to lower human resources and expenses, you should strive to automate as many processes as possible. It also pays off to hire multi-skilled people who will be able to perform several different tasks. 

Finally, look for innovative individuals. Hiring people with different backgrounds and experiences who are creative and ready to share their ideas can help set your company apart from the competition. 

It should also be noted that as the number of your team members grows, it will become harder to manage them. And failing to manage employees the right way could result in reduced productivity and increased employee turnover. In order to avoid this, make sure to have leaders who can manage your staff without your help. In addition, don’t forget to build a proper hierarchy. Your startup will be truly scalable if it can operate without you. Be deliberately absent to force your team members to be more independent!

The startup can truly scale up only in case it can function without you. Take a deliberate absence. With the help of this step, you can force employees to be independent.

3. Invest in the Right Technology

We’re living in a digital age, so you should try to streamline as many processes as you can. There are a few great tech tools and solutions that can help you with managing your company and make it scalable. However, bear in mind that these tools are optional, and not every business needs them. 

Search Plugins

Effective website search means better usability, so customers can find what they’re looking for more quickly. This will translate into higher sales, as customers will be more likely to make a purchase. More intuitive navigation and search also means more conversions. Studies have shown that the use of the search box results in an average conversion rate of nearly 2.5%, against a site average of 1.7%. If you want to improve your WordPress site search, consider using WordPress search plugins. The default WordPress search feature is fairly limiting, but the best WordPress search plugins can help improve the search experience. 

CRM System

As you probably already know, clients are of the utmost importance for any business. Scaling up your startup means growing your customer base fairly quickly and this, in turn, means improving customer experience. Using CRM software helps you manage interactions with your clients by storing and organizing all the data related to them. This data will help you to respond to customer questions faster, analyze their buying patterns, and improve your marketing strategy according to their needs. 

You can use a ready-made CRM system or rely on Excel. The excel CRM includes a dashboard, customer communication log, opportunity tracker, and contact database that is easy to customize and modify in accordance with your startup’s needs, given it is built in Excel. If you decide to go with the latter option, consider hiring an Excel VBA programmer who can help you with so much more than using Excel as CRM!

Cloud Computing

If your business is directly connected to the Internet, you will need a powerful and flexible space. Cloud computing can provide such a space. You can also outsource the whole IT infrastructure and thus eliminate the expenses for in-house hardware and electricity, at the same time freeing up lots of space. Storing information in the cloud is a good point in developing both a startup and a business scaling strategy.

4. Create an Effective Marketing Strategy

Even if you’ve come up with a great scaling strategy, you’ve hired the best professionals, and you’ve started using some kick-ass technology, you won’t be able to scale your startup if nobody knows it exists. That’s why you need to figure out how to let more people know about your company. The answer is obvious: marketing. Focus on building an effective marketing strategy that includes some (or all) of these tactics:

Social Media Marketing

Oftentimes, startups are not able to invest significant resources into advertising and that’s where social media comes in. Social media is a great way to build your company’s reputation, so it comes as no surprise that this tactic is so popular among small scale startups.

Content Marketing

Considered one of the most scalable marketing tactics, content marketing offers continuous value and has great viral potential. The smart use of keywords can help your business grow and thrive among the competition.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a term that refers to a collaboration between a brand and a person who is popular on social media. It implies that this person will tell her or his followers about the benefits of the products/services you offer. 

Final Thoughts

Scaling up your startup can be a make-or-break moment. If you scale too early or without a plan, you could end up creating a number of problems that will be difficult to reverse or even permanently damage your business. If, on the other hand, you fail to scale on time, you could miss out on some amazing opportunities that come with greater revenue and resources. As you plan for the next stage of your startup’s development, remember these 4 essential tips for a successful scale-up.