Entrepreneurs are fast forward. They want to form a company, make it grow and scale it, sell it and make money. There would be an exception to what I say, but then that percentage is less than 2%. Entrepreneurs who scale & grow, and instead of selling buy more firms to get inorganic growth.
I am not here to state which group is right or wrong. It’s part of individual goals and aspirations. Not everyone aspires to make a firm to list it on NYSE and be the next billionaire. Life is too short with only think about being one.
My writing here is about the Growth, and Scale of the firm and what entrepreneurs opt for. Do they wish to grow or scale their firm? It is not a choice that we need to pick from the bowl of choice. Working for never been easy, but many firms get to confuse themselves in the run of making their entrepreneurship twinkle.
My point is about Growth or Scale. What is your choice of running a firm?
Let me give you an example. Let’s say you have a casual dining restaurant in Manhattan. You are a wish for every individual in New York to dine at your restaurant. Your restaurant has a full booking for next fortnight and guests go sad when they come to your place and don’t have time to get in. You are all over on page 3.
So, what would be your strategy next? To open one more restaurant strategically to meet customer needs, it can be downtown or some suburban.
This is growth. You invest in a new restaurant, add more people, and get everything to run your business.
A growth which attracts more investment and resource is called “Growth”.
Unlike, you put cuisine on cloud delivery apps and try to give exact food experience at home. Don’t add people; you don’t make new restaurants and not get new equipment. You might marginally grow or grow over 30%, This growth is called “Scale”.
Entrepreneurs are normally in fix on what to do. Should they work on scaling the firm or growing the firm? Mind you, both are tough and need deep thinking. By reading me doesn’t make your firm grow or scale. Make sure that strategy is about growth or scale.
My three-pointers below will help Entrepreneur to strategize their plan to grow or scale:
Market identification
The problem with a new entrepreneur is a handful of customers. This data doesn’t add up to a dominant strategy on market identification or customer segmentation or financial planning. Following competition might get you in the same problems. The following leader will get you to increase marketing, spend and increase resource.
The best way in such a situation is to believe in yourself and make your best. Try to shift your boundary and increase your market range. You can get to scale your business by improving some features or products or better compliance. Work on these lines then grows in the competitive market.
Growth is always good, but guzzling thirsty for resources, will look good on paper, but only stress.
Capacity to Scale
We all build a team with trust that they will coop up with demand. Demand on customer growth, which will lead to an increase in revenue. If this is the case, then you need to shift in your thinking. Not every time you need to think of just meeting expectations.
Think about the scaling team who will set the benchmark and turn to set new. The left-out benchmark needs to work on its own. It needs to be on autopilot. When you do this, then you are not adding up resources to make up for an increase in sales.
Scaling up the organization is needs you to be a visioner. Not to know the fate. But to just work on knowing what will work for you and how you can be a step ahead of competition and customer expectation.
Making a team scale is the way ahead.
Set standards
Never invent the wheel for every new customer. Always make standards, even if these standards are mean from some handful of customers.
Entrepreneurs rush to junk bureaucracy, they feel this is road blockers and will lead to hurdles in making substantial business. But if you look at standards, you will find the ease of scaling in business.
Imagine you are an AI platform, you can make wonders if you have a standard line of AI for vertical and size. Similarly, this will also help you reach many customers talking the same standard pitch. This will help you add up many standards for sure, but then you are not getting on consulting or inventing for every new customer.
Trust me, this will help you to scale your firm. The bureaucracy is not about buying flash drives based on the rule. Bureaucracy is about treating customers with a standard pitch.
Entrepreneurship is about getting the difference and not making a parallel company. Your strategy around scaling will make you different from any routine.
Don’t add a resource, grow with what resource you own.
Scale!