Anticipate Business Growing Pains

Do you feel like your business is growing too quickly or hurtling out of control?  Every company will inevitably experience growing pains as it transitions from a startup to a thriving organization.

There are specific problems that arise when your business grows too quickly.

Preparing for the business’s growing pains can make the process easier for you and your staff.

Here are 5 small business growing pains to consider when starting your business.

1.  Rising sales have quickly outstripped the capacity of the team to perform with the quality that I expect.

In business, there always comes a point where demand outpaces the resources you have gathered to meet it. There is an inevitable cost associated with acquiring new customers that you’ll need to account for. It’s a standard issue to find that your current staff can no longer reasonably keep up with the increasing demand for your product or service.

At this point, you’ll need to make some tough decisions. You’ll need to hire more staff, which likely means you’ll either need to cut costs elsewhere or increase your prices. There is no correct answer—it depends on your business and what works best for you.  But hiring more people is an antidote to relieve your business’s growing pains. 

2. Finding, hiring, and assimilating talented people promptly is much more complicated.

One of the significant business growing pains people encounter is difficulty in finding qualified new talent to hire.  You might be tempted to stick with the staff that has been with you since the beginning rather than take a risk on new hires.  However, even if you feel like no one could know your business as well as your current employees, you’ll need to branch out eventually.

The key is to find people who fit well with your business culture.  Skills can be learned, but a cohesive culture is crucial to maintaining productivity and morale.  Hire people who will mesh well with your current employees. It’s worth the extra training they might need.

3. We have outgrown our current capital structure and resources.

As businesses grow, so do the resources required to sustain them.  You may find yourself having to borrow money when you were previously able to cover everything through cash flow. It’s essential to ensure that your product or service prices are high enough to generate a significant enough profit margin to keep your business thriving.

4.  It is harder to effectively communicate with and manage a larger, more sophisticated team.

Communication is the #1 issue encountered by businesses of all sizes.  The larger the team, the more challenging it is to ensure everyone is on the same page.  You can head this off by creating a reliable communication infrastructure, ensuring that all departments keep in contact, and not waiting until you have many employees to encourage constant communication.  Avoid this critical business growing pain.

5. As the owner, I used to be able to be involved in everything; now, I have to learn how to delegate and trust others.

As this article from Entrepreneur states, there is a significant difference between being an owner and a leader.  As your business grows, your responsibilities as the owner will change.

You can only accomplish some things by delegating tasks to experienced, capable employees.  It would be helpful if you learned how to trust the people you hire to keep your business running smoothly.

Owning a business isn’t easy, but being prepared can help you avoid a lot of the significant business growing pains you’ll experience down the line.  Check out my ebook, The 10 Critical Responsibilities of a Business Owner, for tips to succeed in your business.  If you have any doubts about your ability to grow, let’s discuss.

Coach Dave