Business growth is many entrepreneurs’ main career goal. However, it’s a climb to get to a position where you’re capable of growth, and from there it’s an even bigger mountain to summit!
It’s why being mindful of certain elements as you make expansion plans is crucial. But what do you need to keep in mind? It’s all about where you want to go, what you’re planning to include, and how fast you want to move.
Plus, the more you do well now, the easier it’s going to be to apply those same principles to your future endeavors. So let’s go through the best questions to answer, and the best factors to incorporate into your goals ahead.
What Works Well?
You need to know this before you make any plans for expansion. After all, a good business is able to self-critique, take their time doing their research, and be aware of just how much work has gone into their current setup.
But why? Why take stock of what’s going on right now? Because once you know what works well in your current location, you can replicate it in your new location(s). You can move your setup practices from one location to another, apply them in a new setting, and watch it work out just as well.
And if it doesn’t, you’ll have a good idea of what can work and what is never going to. This is good information to have on your side when you’re moving onto bigger and better things.
Work Out Your Budget
Have you got a strong financial baseline at the moment? Even if you do, working out your budget should be the next thing you do. A sense of your financial wellbeing isn’t just applicable to your personal life; you’re only as good as the money you’ve got behind you, and many good business ideas have fallen prey to this in the past.
Take your time working out how much cash is on your side. You don’t need definite numbers, but you do need a good idea of the minimum and the maximum. What needs spending, and what could you do without? For a new location, the basics are needed from the beginning, but it should take you a while to add the mod-cons on top.
Understand Employment Law
Employment law is going to differ depending on where you’re working from. Similarly, it’s going to differ depending on where you’re moving to. And this is one of the main reasons why running a multi location team is so difficult. What rules apply to issues like compensation time in one country won’t necessarily translate into another; these differences can be wild even across state lines!
You need to do your homework! You need to understand employment law first and foremost before you expand into any new location. You could hire a lawyer here to help out, but you could also comb through government statutes yourself, or both; it all depends on how much time and budget you have.
Promote Your Trusted Staff
If you’re already running a team of your own, promote the people within it that you trust the most. This will allow you to delegate tasks and actions to those you know are capable of carrying them out. Plus, it’ll help to develop the career of people who have worked hard to get where they are. If you want them to stick around for the expansion, this is the way to go!
Promote at least two people to run the ship when you’re not around. This way, you have one manager on shift, and one who can jump in when it’s time to swap shifts. Also, this ensures the new team you put together have trusted sources they can work alongside, without being overwhelmed by the amount of senior leadership they need to get to know.
Have a Regular Check-In
Remember, you can’t do everything! As such, regular check-ins keep you in touch with what’s going on without you needing to be there. Have one or two people you can contact to see how things are moving along. This way you get all the details you need from those you can rely on while you’re also able to stay focused on the admin side of things. At the same time, you can work in the background when it’s essential, but you still have the chance to get stuck in ‘on the ground’. Speaking of…
Pitch In
That’s always the best thing to do when you’re trying to create a supportive working environment in a new location. Business expansion is hard enough when you’ve got a small support network, but if you’re never pitching in yourself, barely anything is going to get done. Think of things from your new team’s (or expanded team’s) point of view. You need to lead them and show them what you expect, and how they need to conduct themselves when they’re in the office. That takes some in-person practice!
Take a Step Back
How many hours are there in the day? Only 24, meaning you won’t get everything you want to get done! Like we mentioned before, you can’t be everything to everyone at once. And as a business leader, that’s a hard lesson to learn.
But you will need to take a step back, and even take a break from time to time. This is the number one thing to be mindful of. You’ve got plans, but you need to maintain a work/life balance as well. You should never have more work hours on your schedule than personal time for longer than a couple weeks at most.
Growing a business takes courage, a lot of planning, and a good understanding of the financial aspects! You’re up to the challenge – of course you are. But you also need to apply caution and move slowly. The best leader is one who thinks before charging in; remember, past success is no guarantee of future success going forward.
