If You Aren't Prepared for Growth It Can Destroy Your Business An avalanche of sales that can't be fulfilled has buried more than one business.
By Kimanzi Constable Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Sit back and close your eyes. Daydream about when your business generates enough revenue to set you free financially. Sales are rolling in. A long list of clients want to do business with you.
There's no more stress about not making enough.
That day is the goal of entrepreneurship. We started a business to achieve time freedom, financial security and to make an impact on the lives of those our business serves. It's not an easy path. At times achieving those goals requires more than we feel we're capable of giving.
You can reach those goals, and more, when you put in the work to build a solid foundation -- a plan for marketing your products and services and getting exposure for what your business does. You use growth strategies that build your business beyond just a cute idea.
Related: 3 No-Cost Marketing Tactics You Can Use Right Now to Bring in More Sales
Growth Without Systems
Growth is the goal but it can also be the downfall of a business. Hungry entrepreneurs need to have the systems and structure in place to handle rapid growth. The sales come and we cheer, but at some point, there has to be the fulfillment of those sales.
You've likely heard stories of entrepreneurs and businesses that have been featured by Oprah. They then go on to experience an explosive increase in sales. It cripples the businesses they aren't prepared. It's called "Orrah Effect" and it happens to average entrepreneurs, too.
The time to put in place your systems and structure is before the rapid growth starts. Build your business for where you're going, not where you are now. By the time your sales start increasing you'll be ready to fulfill what your customers purchased.
Related: 6 Ways to Handle Rapid Growth
Forward Thinking Strategy
The good news is you can put those systems in place at a fraction of what it would have cost in the past. The internet, software, technology and access give us the opportunity to build a business structure that can handle growth. You can partner with other agencies, firms and businesses to fulfill what you're not able to.
Let's say you have a full-service digital marketing agency. You teach digital marketing strategy and tactics. You do a consulting training for a large corporation. They love what you have to say but, lacking the bandwidth to implement your suggestions, they ask if your team can handle the implementation.
You don't have the team for a project this big but you're partnering with a web agency that builds the technical side of digital marketing. You mark up your fees to the large corporation, outsource the work to the web agency and white label what they build for you so that it appears to come from your "team."
Everyone wins. You can use this same model for any type of business. The point being, you're setting yourself up for growth because you have the right systems in place. You're building with the future in mind.
Having systems means you have the online portion of your business established. You have the technical team in place -- even if that's outsourced. It means you have the product manufacturing in place -- even if you're partnered. You have the sales and marketing elements in place. You have the financial side of your business in place.
There is no aspect in which you're playing catch up because that's where businesses crumble. Rapid growth is the goal but you have to be prepared for it. Building the business of your dreams means putting the systems and structure in place that gets you there. Do that as you build.
