Your business is bound to feel the pinch if it doesn’t have systems & resources that adapt to market demand. Cracks turn into fissures, and soon your business is falling apart. You’ve grown too fast – you’ve failed to build scalability into its operations.
Why does it matter that you strive for scalability in business? Keep reading to find out.
Blinded By Growth
Many will get into the mindset that the only thing that matters is growth in the pursuit to see a startup’s success. While there is some truth to this, there is a huge difference between a startup that’s trying to get gobbled up by venture capital and a small mom & pop shop that wants to offer something to its community.
A business that does great things will grow.
However, not every great business will sustain itself if all it strives to achieve is more growth.
You, the business owner, need to be aware that there is an ebb & flow with operations. Some years will be phenomenal while others may scale back. The market shifts. You adapt. The business keeps going. Like a ship and crew, it rises and falls with the tides.
Your pursuit of scaling will prevent the ‘blindness’ of growth.
The mindset shift will have you approaching ideas with data-driven insights. You aren’t just hopping on trends, or buying up tools you thought looked neat. You aren’t agreeing to every pitch or having your team start this week’s project you brainstormed over the weekend.
The tl;dr: You’ll start making smarter decisions about your business operations.
Why Scalability Matters
Scaling is about increasing profitability without adding to the costs.
For example:
Introducing systems that streamline the logistics process so you can ship out more products is a form of scaling. You are supporting the efforts by empowering the team and expanding its resources instead of just adding more team members and hoping for the best.
There are scalable opportunities all throughout your business.
The benefit of pursuing them is so that your business doesn’t shudder and come to a screeching halt because it can’t keep up with demand. Having scalable processes also prevents the event where you rapidly burn through funds when trying to accommodate growth and sudden spikes in sales & interest.
Refine Your Core Strengths
Scalability also empowers you and your team to refine their core strengths.
Individuals now have the tools and resources they need to fully realize their skillset. They also have the foundation that lets them thrive since they aren’t bogged down by convoluted systems that seemed to have been hastily tied together.
Teams (and larger departments) experience this same benefit.
Scalability creates a more frictionless environment. One where there are degrees of autonomy from within the organization – not held back and beholden to you, the owner. Your teams can operate to the best of their ability, refining their strengths in the process.
Efficiency at Its Finest
Whether you’re a startup trying to get VC money or a small mom & pop that wants to make its mark on its community, it’s important to integrate scalable processes and tools within your operations as soon as you can.
Scalability creates efficiency.
Scalability saves time.
Scalability reduces waste.
And most importantly…
Scalability allows your business to adapt to market demands. It allows your operations to thrive with the market’s ebb & flow, and not fizzle out after experiencing blinding hot growth.
Want to begin building processes to help your business scale? Explore our Catapult Business Training program for everything you need to build a more predictable, sustainable, and profitable business.
