7 ways to prepare your startup to scale up
Assuming the fact that one has successfully started a startup. Scalability is thus the ability of a startup in order to grow. Or, in order to put it more precisely, a scalable business can also adapt to a larger workload without compromising the performance or either losing revenue.
However not every business is thus poised to make it big. Some of the startups do get off the ground without the right systems, people, or either with mindset in place. Trying in order to grow such kind of businesses is like trying to inflate a tractor tire and that too with a bicycle pump.
However , the purpose of this article is to make the reader aware of the ways as to how one is supposed to scale his startup.
Here's how one can prepare his startup to scale up.
1. Get the basics down.
Before one would even worry about scaling his startup, one must make sure that his fundamentals are however fool proof. One must make sure that he has covered for the following:
1. Make sure one’s core product line reaches "market fit". One can however make gradual improvements through the product iterations which is however based on the user feedback and data.
2. One must also find out his largest core users.
3. One must find out the marketing channels which are with the biggest ROI and also scaling the potential by testing with smaller budgets first.
4. One must also make sure one has have the resources in order to scale. One must also seek additional round of funding if it is necessary. One can't worry about profitability while scaling, and thus the last thing which one wants is to run out of money.
2. Automate Everything.
If one is spending a long time in "setting up" his business, then it is good for one.
• Setting up a cloud storage and an organization...
• Setting up a training processes for the new hires...
• Setting up the marketing automation...
• Setting up a payroll for rapid processing...
• Setting up a billpay for the automatic withdrawals...
Even though it however takes a long time on the front end, this activity will however pay for itself in the long term. One will be able to access faster data , hire faster, market better, pay easier, and also streamline the operations for a truly scalable model.
3. Boost marketing.
One must firstly, focus on marketing, and after that scalability will follow. But also not every form of marketing is considered as scalable.
Also , content marketing, on the other hand, is thus one of the most scalable growth methods. Content marketing always has evergreen value and viral potential, making it thus the growth-hack method of choice for most of the startups.
4. Outsource non-essentials.
For the big corporations, the name of the game is thus as "in-house." One should get in-house graphic designers, developers, conversion optimizers, SEOs, CPAs, lawyers, and thud even janitors.
Startups can't however afford that luxury, and if one wants to be strong enough in order to grow, one would thus need to outsource all non-essential roles.
The graphic design firm doesn't really need a law department. The SEO consulting firm doesn't however require a full-time PowerPoint designer. One however just needs to focus on what one is good at.
This lean approach is something what generally allows a startup in order to break into the big time. When one is nailing it with its core competencies, one would thus start to scale up.
5. Keep an eye on social media.
Every new startup is always in the public eye. Whatever happens on the social media will however be examined by the world.
It's important in that in the startup days one must watch his social media carefully. Fledgling startups can't however afford to take a major PR hit with thus a social media flap. Big companies might also thus be able to weather the storm, but one’s startup isn't thus ready for it.
Scalability is thus about surviving, as much as it is also about growing. If one hits a PR fiasco, one is however limiting his chance of survival and scalability.
6. Excuse yourself.
Thus , in order to be truly scalable, one’s business should thus be able to function just fine without oneself . The way one puts that into place is thus by deliberately shifting the responsibility off one’s shoulders, or also into the oversight of someone else. In addition, one should thus also take deliberate absences so that one can force the business and personnel in order to be independent.
It may thus be a little bit humbling in order to come back from a four-week vacation and also discovering that the business is however thriving without one being there. But this thus can actually be considered as encouraging, too.
7. Hire the right people (and only the right people).
A business is however scalable, only when it has the right people that are on board.
First, though, one would thus have to hire only the people that are thus necessary to the operation.
Here are thus some of the key characteristics of a team member who will however help one scale:
• They can thus do what a program can't. If one has a human doing something that a machine thus can do, then one is wasting human effort. A startup thus needs to automate everything that it can however in order to maximize the output of the human team members.
• They are also full of good ideas. One can't also put a dollar price on the value of a good idea. Thus , a single lightbulb moment on the part of one employee can thus also more than pay for that employee.
• They also thus have more than one skill. In the startup environment, one person might however be required to do three jobs.
Scalability is considered as a mindset, too. Surely, one needs to have the right systems and also processes, people, and plans.
But one is also required to think big in order to become big. Having a scalable business thus means that one is free in order to unleash his dreams, make a lot of money, and also thus have fun doing it. Once one gets his mind in the game, scalability thus becomes way easier.