Africa is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable markets in the world, due to its large population size. There are tremendous opportunities that make it a lucrative market for most businesses to succeed. However, starting up a small scale business and growing it are two different things, the latter is where many miss the mark.
Knowing the basic principles of how to grow a small scale business will set you on the right path and help you thrive where others just survive.
What is ‘’scaling’’ in business?
Scaling simply refers to setting the stage for your business to grow exponentially. It entails maintaining the efficiency and quality of the service or products you sell, even with an increased workload. In other words, not just growing, but being able to handle that growth.
Here are 4 basic principles for scaling a business:
- Evaluate Your Business Plan
To scale your business, it is important to first understand the market that your business plays in and the stakeholders. What is the size of the market? Who are your competitors? What makes them successful? The answers to these questions will help you create a robust business plan to grow your business and succeed.
You’ll also need to put into consideration your perceived increase in expenses and match that with your forecast revenue to be sure that you have a business plan that is sustainable.
- To Scale Your Business, Build A Great Team
Your small scale business is only as good as the people who work for you. You need a team that understands your values, mission, and vision as a company, and can successfully execute them.
Hiring the right staff cannot be overemphasized, but also of equal importance is maintaining a healthy co-working relationship amongst staff. Keep your employees motivated with a reward system based on performance and effort. Happy employees result in happy customers.
- Secure The Sales
Every business sells something, whether it’s a product or service. Scaling means you intend to sell significantly more of whatever your product offering is. With this in mind, you’ll need a plan to acquire more customers and the right structure to retain them.
In perspective, what this could look like is:
- A marketing plan to acquire and generate leads
- A sales team to convert leads into customers
- A functional system to manage a large volume of sales orders
- A trained Customer service team to ensure optimal customer satisfaction and improve customer retention.
- Automate Your Operations
Automating your operations is integral to your growth as a small scale business. So where possible, figure out ways to reduce manual work and use technology to optimize workflows, manage finance and human resources and improve customer satisfaction.
The world keeps evolving, and you need to evolve along with it by staying ahead of the curve. Technological solutions will not only help you streamline your business operations and services, but they will also increase your efficiency, making it easier for you to grow. So if you’re wondering how to scale up your business, investing in technological solutions is not negotiable.
At Glade, we help small scale businesses become big businesses by offering technological solutions that support your growth and make it easy for you to scale.
We offer:
– An automated payroll system to help you pay your staff quickly and efficiently
– Free business bank accounts in minutes
– Fast and reliable cross-border payments at your fingertips
– POS to receive in-store payments quickly and seamlessly into your Glade business bank account
Now that you know how to grow a small scale business, set up an account with us now, and get access to our amazing tools and services.
Click here, to get started.