Q.1 What are the major indicators I should see before thinking about expanding?
– Growing your business is a challenge. And a lot of people find that if they don’t get things right, they can fall flat on their faces. We see it, unfortunately, all too often. So, it is important to look at those indicators. And make sure that you’re ready to expand your business. One of the things I always ask people is, how confident are they that this sale of their product or service will continue? Do your customers love you? Are they constantly calling? You can’t get the supplies out quick enough. That’s a great indicator, you’ve got something very successful. Another thing is, are you worried about competitors? Is there somebody who can come in and steal some of that market share? Have you actually looked at that? You know, do your market research. Make sure that there is some longevity to that product or service that you are delivering, before you go all out and add the cost that it takes to grow your business. And lastly, I’d say get ready with your team. Are they the right people? Can they face the stress that expansion can cause a business? Make sure that they’re trained, make sure they’re up for the challenge. So, there’s a few ideas. Congratulations on the growth, make sure you can keep it going.
Q.2 What are the most important things I can do to control the growth of my business successfully?
Successful growth is difficult to maintain and succeed. A lot of companies will fail very quickly, unfortunately. Mainly because they run out of cash. So, the first thing I would say is, have you got the right facility in place? Do you have the funding you need to grow your business? You need a partner that’s ready to grow with you. Certainly if you’re a new company, maybe a startup business. It is difficult to find the right funding partner sometimes. So, take a look at factoring. It’s there ready to help you as you grow your business. Basically, it will increase with the level of sales that you make. So, there’s a facility that’s primed ready to help growing companies. Other facilities, not so much. If you’ve gone online and maybe got a loan from a lender that’s a fixed amount and now you’ve got to make those repayments. Is that going to help you, or are you going to find that your cash flow is taken up in your receivables, or too quickly. That’s something you have to really watch. So, definitely, cash flow if you’re looking to expand quickly. Cash is king, don’t be short of money. Businesses fail very quickly, because they run out of cash. So, get that right first. Also, do some more research on your product. Again, have you got a product that’s going to really, stand the test of time or if you’ve got competitors that will come in and steal your market from you? If you know that somebody’s about to open up around on the corner. You know, that could impact your business. Do plenty of study and research ahead of time, but the most important thing is cash. –
Q.3 I’m worried about taking the plunge and growing my business too quickly. What should I do to prepare?
– That’s a great question. A lot of people are held back by fears of growing and not succeeding. Look at your customers. Do you have good customers that you can grow with? Or are they gonna be tapped out at a certain level? If so, you need new customers. Have you done enough research to find those customers, and maybe expand into new markets, new territories. That’s important. You wanna keep that sales growth going. Have you got the right team? We’ve talked about that before, but also have you got the right systems? Are those teams, those players trained sufficiently to make the team successful? Do you need to add additional services or systems in order to accommodate and sustain that growth? Those are really important things, so taking a plunge, yeah it can be very stressful on a business. Again we’ve talked about making sure the finances in place. Really important stuff. So, ultimately though, if you have the confidence to succeed, you’ve done the planning, you’ve got the right people and the right finance in place, should be nothing to hold you back. You’ve really got to be not scared of success, ultimately. But definitely, have the right people around you, the right funding partners ready to help your business really take off. Well, that’s all we have time for today. Thank you everybody, for sending in your questions. You can find us online, hashtag The Money Factor. Please, go ahead send some more questions in, we’d love to help you.