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Tackling the Scalability Challenge A business can only be scalable if it can keep up with the pace the market demands, but is it easy as it sounds?

By Harnish Shah

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In life, there is always something new to look forward to. It provides the motivation that keeps you going and pushes you to be better. Similarly, In the corporate world, the challenge of scaling up your business is the motivation that is required for success. One of the main reasons of wanting to scale up is the quest of leaving the competition behind and thriving in the market rather than just surviving. To put that clearly, let's talk about facts. As per the GEM national report, more than 100 million new ventures start each year, and only 40per cent of those startups are profitable. This shows the level of competition in the global market. And to raise above all this, you need to scale up.

Although you might have a fair idea about scalability, let's understand it better. Once we all are on the same page about it, it would be easier to curate a strategy to tackle the challenge of scalability.

Basically, scalability is the ability of a business to grow as per the needs and demands of the market. A business can only be scalable if it can keep up with the pace the market demands. But is it easy as it sounds? No, of course not! With our experience, we firmly believe that scaling up is even more daunting than launching a startup in the first place. However, we have come up with certain tips that would help you tackle the scalability challenge with confidence. So, without further ado, let's get right to them:

Be Prepared, Really Prepared!

First things first, you should be sure that you want to scale up. As we have already mentioned, it can be really scary. So, make up your mind 100per cent in the direction you want to proceed towards. According to a study, more than 20per cent businesses scale prematurely and you wouldn't want to be one of them and fail.

Martin L Abbott, The author of Scalability Rules - 50 rules of scaling websites, has written in his best-selling book.

"Don't accept that the application is too complex or that you release code too often as excuses that you can't roll back. No sane pilot would take off in an airplane without the ability to land, and no sane engineer would roll code that they could not pull back off in an emergency."

It is true for every kind of scaling not just for websites. So, make your decision after a lot of thinking, preparations, and enthusiasm, a lot of it.

Your Answer Lies in Your Question

Now that you have made up your mind, you need to ask yourself the right questions that need to be answered, to scale up your business. You could start with:

  • Who are you competing with?

  • What makes you different from your competitors?

  • How are you going to market your specialities?

  • What are your short term as well long term goals?

These are just some of the many questions you need to ask yourself before making the decision to scale up your business. Once you find the answer to all these questions, you can carve out a clear path for yourself. So, try to look for as many questions, you will find your solutions to the scalability challenge within them!

Make One Hell of a Team!

There is this popular saying, "Take one for the team" however to tackle the challenges of scalability, you will need a team that would take one for your business. Yes, that's correct; you need to hire the right team, a team that would be capable enough of going through the rigors of scalability. This is important as you can't win a war if you don't have the right armoury.

So, based on the requirements of your business, you need to assemble a team that is efficient enough to keep up with the pace that your company would move with. The key to scalability is to employ the right people for the right job.

There can of course be millions of tips to tackle the challenges of scalability; however, we believe that the ones mentioned above are the core ingredients of a successful scalability recipe. Now, it's up to you how you want to deal with this exciting challenge ahead. Do let us know your views on the same. All the best.

Harnish Shah

Co-founder, 3 Minds Digital

Harnish Shah, a co-founder at 3 minds digital; he has completed his bachelor’s degree in design and communication.  He has 7 years of experience in the graphics and UI/UX space. He has also co-founded another company, Design Pitch Deck that has grown to be one of Asia’s biggest player in the corporate/investor presentation design space.

His expertise lies in branding, packaging and design processes. Harnish worked as a UI/UX consultant at Deloitte Digital prior to co-founding 3MD. He remains the core pivot to the strides 3MD has made as a design consultancy. His vision and approach to design help him excel in his department. He believes that design can solve untold problems.

It is his process-driven approach that has helped 3MD bag enterprise clients like CNBC, DMart, Mitashi, TATA, Mitashi, Network 18 etc.  Due to his hard work and efforts, within a year, had the privilege to hire his own team from his University, while sitting on the other end of the placement panel.
 

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