So you have finally gathered the courage and the means to start your own business, and now you’re wondering how you can quickly make it grow?
This may sound disappointing to some, but many will agree that in the first year of your business, it’s not so much about profit and growth – its about surviving the harsh business world. You’ve dreamed of quitting your 9-to-5 job and starting your own company, but it’s not uncommon to start wishing for your old job back once you start facing the challenges of entrepreneurship.
It’s also usual to wear many hats in the beginning and deal with all sorts of issues as a business owner. Hopefully, you will soon be able to hire more people who were trained to do those jobs so your business will grow. To help you ease the struggles of the beginning and scale your business, we have gathered 7 hacks to help you scale your business in its first year.
The Right Way to Register Your Company
Naturally, one of the first things you do, if you are starting a business, is registering your company. A lot of people are confused when it comes to deciding between registering your company as a sole trader or limited company. We will go ahead and advise you to choose the first option for various reasons. First of all, it’s a lot quicker and more simple than registering a limited company.
Second, as a sole trader, you have the right to retain your privacy whereas if you register as a limited company, your name and address will be public. Limited companies also come with more strict requirements.
Build an Email List
Building an email list is crucial for growing your business. You may not realise the importance of this at the beginning, but your email list can have a huge impact on your revenue. The people who subscribed to your email are interested in what you have to offer and they may become your customers in the future. It’s all up to you now.
Create a Strong Public Profile
If you thought this didn’t have anything to do with scaling your business, think again. Nowadays, when everyone is present on social media and you can literally find information about anyone, you need to be present there too. People should be able to find basic information about the founder of the business. Your customers or potential business partners will want to know more about you and it is your job to make that information accessible to them.
Create a Plan and Stick to It
Focusing on the wrong things is one of the most common reasons why businesses fail, and you need to prevent this from happening to you. How? By creating a step-by-step plan which is essential if you want to scale your business fast. You need to know your priorities, have a detailed plan and to stick to it, otherwise, you will quickly get lost in all of it. Focus on the right things instead of wasting your time and your energy on irrelevant matters. You need to understand that as a business owner, you cannot simply go into things blindly, and you must plan every little detail.
Hire Someone to Help You
We know that being a new business owner can be extremely hard and most of them can’t even afford to pay themselves in the beginning. However, you should know that you can’t do everything alone. You need to ask for help and investing in the right thing at the right time can make or break your business. If you need help with increasing the visibility of your business, hire a SEO specialist, or an accountant or even a business loan specialist if you need help in that area. It may be a financial struggle in the beginning but it will pay off.
Form Partnerships
Forming partnerships with the right people or companies is invaluable. Identify the companies that you could use partnering with. Reach out to them with suggestions for collaboration. This could bring you a lot more customers and will grow your business quickly.
Know When It’s The Right Time
Experts suggest that knowing when to attempt to scale your business is crucial. According to Forbes, your business should already be thriving at the moment when you decide to scale it. If you decide to do it before you’ve even established a solid business and you don’t have anything valuable to offer to people, then it will all be a waste of time.
Being a business owner is a lot of responsibility, and before you start wishing for your old job back, take a moment to really think about what you’ve just read. If you take it seriously and do something about it, there’s no stopping you.
