Jawbone, Sprig, WeWork—what do these businesses have in common? Each company reached impressive heights of success before crashing down and becoming a cautionary tale for new startups.
Aggressive growth, exacerbated operating costs, and intense competition—these are just a few factors responsible for the downfall of these companies.
However, that doesn’t mean small business owners should focus on stability and shy away from growth.
You can’t survive in a competitive market if you don’t grow your business. However, rather than recklessly expanding your business operations and launching new products, you must take a strategic and sustainable approach.
In this article, we’ll discuss the ins and outs of how to scale a small business for long-term growth and success.
Growth vs. scalability: Understanding the difference
New SMB owners often use the terms growth and scalability interchangeably, but they’re not the same.
Growing a business means increasing your revenue by attracting new customers and driving more sales. However, as your customer base and order volume skyrocket, you’ll need more team members, inventory, and other resources.
In other words, your operational costs rise as your company grows, which can constrain cash-strapped small and medium-sized businesses. Aggressive, unplanned growth can take a toll on your employees and operations, ultimately disrupting the customer experience.
That’s why scalability is so important. It involves everything you do to drive revenue while staying profitable. Think of it as a cost-effective way of growing your business in the long run.
For instance, business growth can mean expanding your support team to deal with high call and ticket volumes. Scalability, on the other hand, involves using modern tools for business growth, such as AI chatbots and self-service portals, to address common customer queries.
That way, you cut the expense of hiring more support executives. You also minimize the burden on these employees so they can focus on high-priority issues and maintain seamless customer interactions.
That’s precisely what makes scalability crucial for achieving sustained, long-term growth.
How to scale a business: 4 practical strategies
If you’ve been planning to take your SMB to the next level, you’re already familiar with the basics. You need a concrete plan that outlines projected revenue and expenses, long-term and short-term business goals, and your business model.
Plus, you must build a top-notch team and standardize your processes to get new employees up to speed faster. Finally, you need capital to support your company’s growth.
However, if you want to grow a small business in a scalable way, you must look beyond these fundamentals. Here are a few effective growth strategies to help you get started:
Streamline the sales pipeline
Spending a ton on marketing strategy can help add prospects to your sales pipeline. However, without proper processes in place, sales teams will struggle to manage and convert new leads.
Define the sales process from start to finish so sales reps have a clear idea of how to approach prospects and when to follow up. Use a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to consolidate customer data and optimize pipeline management.
With Act! CRM, for instance, sales teams get a complete view of each lead, including past interactions and their position in the sales funnel. You can even use a lead scoring model to identify high-value prospects. Plus, managers can assign leads to sales reps and set up automated notifications for follow-ups.
Built-in lead capture forms and landing pages with an integrated marketing solution, simplify the process of adding and updating data in the CRM. You can also track and visualize relevant metrics to make data-driven decisions and optimize your sales processes.
In the absence of a CRM system, even the most experienced sales team will struggle to do customer acquisition efficiently
Upgrade your tech stack
Most small businesses and startups already use tools to optimize operations. However, for sustained growth, you need to leverage technology powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
For instance, AI tools like chatbots can tackle routine queries and enhance customer support. Similarly, marketing automation platforms help streamline real-time customer engagement with email marketing campaigns.
Whether you want to improve lead management or client retention, you can set up drip email campaigns to reach them with the right messaging at the right time.
The best part — all that happens without manual intervention, so marketing teams can focus on high-priority tasks like content marketing and SEO.
Other must-have tools in your tech stack include:
- Predictive analytics solutions for accurate forecasting
- Project management software for improved collaboration
- HR automation software for improved workforce management
- Accounting systems for streamlined cash flow management
Practice financial discipline
You need capital to grow a small business. Whether you opt for external funding or go the bootstrapped route, it’s crucial to avoid reckless spending.
As sales pick up and money starts flowing in, question each new expense before approving it. For instance:
Do you really need an on-premise data center at this stage? Or would a cloud-based data warehouse suffice for the next few years?
How much difference will an in-house fulfillment center make for the customer experience as compared to a third-party vendor? Do the benefits outweigh the huge costs of maintaining it?
Do you need to recruit new sales reps to manage growing lead volumes? Or can you use a CRM platform to score leads better and pass on the most promising ones to the sales team?
Asking these questions will help you cut down unnecessary expenses and avoid cash flow issues. Calculate the return on investment (ROI) of each new resource/asset you want to add, so you can decide whether it’s worth the spending.
Prepare your team for growth
Hiring the right people isn’t enough. You also have to set them up for success in the fast-paced environment of a growing business. Without the right training and leadership, even the most skilled people will struggle to keep pace.
For starters, look closely at your existing employees. Identify those with potential and groom them for leadership and management roles. Offer professional development opportunities to help them acquire new skills and stay on top of the latest tech and market trends.
Outline clear onboarding and training workflows to help new hires fit seamlessly into their roles. Lastly, build a positive company culture that values innovation, open communication, and employee well-being.
Scale your small business with Act!
Sustained, cost-effective business growth takes more than expanding your operations, marketing efforts, and team. From using automation and analytics to designing an efficient sales pipeline, a lot goes into scaling a small business.
A CRM platform like Act!—with its built-in marketing automation capabilities—can come in handy for streamlining sales processes, improving lead management, cutting customer acquisition costs, and optimizing sales team efficiency.
Start your free trial today and see the many ways Act! can help scale your business.
