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A small startup may seem like a plucky enterprise with only ambition to guide it, but give it enough chance to grow and water its potential through hard work, a little ingenuity and effort, and before you know it, the operation may expand.
This means that instead of chasing success at all costs, we must also prepare for what to do when it happens. The old adage of ‘more money, more problems’ is often considered a good problem to have, but in business life, it’s true that without keeping your eye on the ball, things can spiral out of control.
For this reason, it’s important to measure your success in potential milestones while also knowing how to handle the consequences they imply. In this post, we’ll discuss four of those milestones, how to consider their application to your firm, and how you might think about expanding and shifting the identity of your firm in response. This way, you can remain a confident, but also cautious business willing to take each step at a time. Let’s consider:
Turning A Profit
The intense sense of pride and accomplishment that comes when you first turn a profit is hard to ignore. This means that not only is your business paying its way, but starting to succeed. Even earning one pound over your commitments is something to celebrate, but of course, we must aim for more than this if we hope to grow.
What matters is learning what to do with your profits and how to use them. Making a priority list of how to invest in your own business and what needs attending to first can be essential. But of course, upgrading your firm is hardly only justified when ‘turning a profit,’ as investing without that simply raises the figure upon which ‘breaking even’ is defined.
No matter, when turning a profit, a careful analysis must be made. Do you invest in your staff, investing in their public speaking expertise, perhaps allowing your business to attend conventions and reveal your product with some fanfare. Might you upgrade your managed IT service requirements, or potentially use higher quality outsourced help? Plan for turning a profit, because it is the ultimate goal in the life of your firm.
Hiring Staff
Hiring a staff member full time is, of course, a tremendously worthwhile experience for many businesses to enjoy. This may seem like an obvious and necessary part of developing a business, but actually, it’s a good indication that you’re moving in the right direction.
Yet we must be careful about who we hire and how we manage their careers, because we will, from then on, be responsible for the anchor upon which that person’s life orbits.
This is why it’s essential to hire staff that help fill the skill gap in your firm, as well as those who are happy to be part of the early developmental team of your business. That kind of approach can only help you remain appreciative of who you have to hand, and what that means in the long run.
Repeat & Scalable Marketing
When your business can begin to commit to repeat and scalable marketing, perhaps through social media and online advertisements, perhaps through legacy media or marketing outreach firms, the more you can see long-term investments are almost always worth it, both in demand and lead generation.
What matters is using this marketing to help define your identity as a brand, and to understand just how you can potentially appeal to more people outside of your limited demographic. This helps a firm begin to reflect on its growth, and which paths it may like to take going forward. Sometimes, a full rebrand may be necessary for us to get the best out of our business plan. Yet scalable marketing can always help us get there, provided we measure our approach.
Logistics
Perhaps one of the latest milestones businesses can aim for is curating that of their own logistical network. This doesn’t necessarily mean your businesses is the biggest in the area, but it does mean your expansion justifies this kind of reach, which is almost always a good sign. With the best HGV training and bringing in logistical drivers that are able to remain dependable and safe on the roads, or perhaps making sure your regular on-site staff are given tihs potential should they need to help out with given jobs or transition equipment from place to place, logistics are a great investment from top to bottom in your firm.
With this advice, you can use these milestones to consider your forward approach, and perhaps even use them a sign of possible success.
