Startup Success: Productive Strategies to Scale Your Business

If your business sees constant demand for your product and market with a strong cash flow, consider scaling up. You can add more products, locations, or brands when scaling up, but it’s important not to do too much at once so you can gauge your scale-up’s success. If you’d like to expand your business but are intimidated by where to start, it’s ideal to research scaling strategies to ensure you’re intelligently approaching expansion.

Create a Realistic Timeline

Expanding a business takes time. You can’t grow overnight; even if you could, it’s better to take it slow. You don’t want to invest all your cash flow in expansion, which could spell disaster for your business. Look at your cash flow quarter by quarter and develop a realistic timeline and business plan for your expansion goals. If you’re building or buying a new location, you’ll need time to build or search for the correct location. If you’re adding new products, you’ll need time for research and development. Ensure your timeline includes what you need to keep your original location or products successful; you’ll need the profits!

Assess Your Finances

You’ve likely established that your business is profitable, but by how much? When product, overhead, and salaries are taken care of, how much cash do you have to play with? You’ll need to work with a financial advisor to determine how much you can invest in your business’s expansion. Going into debt with property loans or lines of credit is okay, but you want to ensure your business can handle this debt well.

Know the Market

Before implementing new products or locations, you’ll need to research the market extensively. Why is your current business plan successful? Will this audience easily transfer to a new area? Will your new products fill the same need? Research potential audiences, markets, and needs for your expansion goals to determine if it’s an intelligent approach.

Choose the Right Location

Not all locations are created equal. Neighborhood and street locations matter even within a city where you know your business will do well. If you want to scale your business in the same city as your original, you’ll want to find high-traffic, populated areas where your target audience will likely shop. If you’re looking for a different city, state, or country to scale your business, you’ll have to do a lot of research on that location’s economy, population density, and target markets. Hiring local real estate and financial experts in the area you’re looking at can help immensely. While numerous options worldwide are great for many businesses, below are some popular location examples for business startups and how their markets vary.

San Francisco, California

Silicon Valley, located in San Francisco, is home to many infamous global technology brands like Apple and Google. The Bay Area is considered one of the most successful revenue growth rates compared to other cities. While there is a wide variety of target audiences from various incomes and age groups, due to its popularity, it can be costly to start a business here.

Austin, Texas

Austin is well-known for its startup successes and is home to many entrepreneurs or small businesses. It’s also considered a great city for job creation, allowing you to find the right team for your new location easily. Technology and healthcare are the most prevalent businesses here, but many varieties of companies see success. The population isn’t as diverse in terms of race or ethnicity, however.

Vancouver, British Columbia

If you’re looking for a diverse population for your expansion, you may be interested in finding a business for sale in Vancouver. Nearly half the population are immigrants or foreign-born, making for diverse target markets. Vancouver’s economy is robust, with notable success in technology, film, and natural resources. It’s an excellent option for US companies to expand their business internationally.

Utilize Technology

When your business grows, so does your workload. Ensure you utilize automation software, project management platforms, and digital marketing tools to make processes as productive and straightforward as possible. If you’re not taking advantage of technological tools, it’s time to start as you expand.

Develop a New Marketing Plan

Your current marketing plan won’t cover every aspect of your expansion. You’ll need to hire additional local marketing strategies to add a new location. You must incorporate new services or products into your current ad revenue. Work with marketing teams to find the best, most cost-efficient way to do this.

Hire the Best Team

Expanding your business means increasing your team, too. For a better chance of success, add more marketing experts, employees, and managers. If you're adding new locations, incorporate real estate and financial experts in new areas. Cutting corners with recruitment means cutting corners with your success.

Be Patient

Expansion can’t happen immediately. You need time to assess your finances, hire a new team, create additional marketing plans, and determine what’s best for your brand. It may be exciting to scale and get everything done quickly, but you’ll have to be patient to increase your chances of success. Waiting will be worth it!