5 Tips for Scaling a Business Successfully

Scaling a business is the same as growing a business, right? Wrong. Scaling vs. growing a business are two very different things. Growing is fine for large PLCs that can throw unlimited resources at their business, but to scale, you need to be cleverer than that. Scaling is all about growing your business smartly by making more of what you have, so it can deal with increased demand without incurring extra expenses.

In this article, we’ll take a look at why scaling is so important and provide some top tips for scaling a business to help you grow in the right way.  

What is Scaling a Business?

Scaling a business is bringing more money into the business with little additional investment. Your profits grow disproportionately to your expenses because you find better ways to do things. That could be by creating more efficient processes or automating labour-intensive tasks. 

Another important aspect of scaling a business is putting the foundations and structure in place to support future growth. It’s not just about growing the business now, it’s also about having the right people, processes and infrastructure in place so you can adapt to marketplace changes and maintain your efficiency as sales volumes increase.  

Why is Scaling a Business So Important? 

Starting a business is tough. Start-up budgets are tight, so you need to do as much as you can with as little as possible. That’s where scaling comes in. It’s a sustainable way of growing a business that allows you to keep up with market demand, improve efficiency and increase profit margins without taking unnecessary risks with your resources. 

Without scaling a business appropriately, it may never be able to reach its full potential, or worse still, it may fail due to costs that spiral out of control. However, scaling a business is not easy. According to McKinsey, only 22% of businesses that have launched in the past decade have scaled successfully. Common mistakes include scaling too quickly, prioritising short-term over long-term goals and hiring for quantity over quality. 

With that in mind, here are our top tips for scaling a business successfully.   

How to Scale a Business

1. Establish your team

If you’re scaling up a business, you might need to hire new workers to manage the increased workflow. However, to scale rather than grow, you must bring additional expertise on board while still running a tight team. 

The hiring decisions you make here are critical. Ideally, you’ll hire just a few talented people who can get a lot done. You’ll also put the right people in the right positions and create a flexible management team that can grow with the business.

When scaling, creating the right team is not just about hiring. During the early stages of business growth, it’s common for companies to be run by a handful of core team members who wear multiple hats. As you scale, expecting those same team members to cover many bases can lead to poor quality work, costly errors and burnout. That’s when it pays to hire independent specialists. 

Outsourcing to specialised talent in non-core areas, such as finance and HR, might sound expensive, but it’s typically far cheaper than hiring full-time employees. Having an independent team of professionals to turn to can also increase productivity, improve the quality of your work and drive business agility. 

2. Streamline your processes and operations

Scaling a business is not the same as growing outward and upward. Rather than bigger, you need to streamline your processes and operations so everything is pulling in a single direction. 

A key part of this is standardising your systems to create repeatable processes that can be managed by your teams. This may require some investment in technology to automate manual and time-consuming tasks such as accounting and payroll, team member onboarding and project management. Hands-on founders who love to get involved must also learn to delegate tasks to avoid stifling the business’s growth. 

When streamlining, you should also think about how you work. From open-plan offices to agile working layouts, creating workspaces that enable your teams to collaborate can improve problem-solving, increase innovation and aid skill sharing. 

Flexible serviced office spaces can help to support this, as they allow you to chop and change your workspace to meet your shifting requirements. With no long-term agreements to worry about, you can find an efficient and cost-effective space that supports you at every stage of your business’s lifecycle.  

3. Focus on networking

Having a solid network in place is vital if you want to scale your business successfully. With that in mind, it’s worth focussing on developing your external relationships with suppliers, partners and any other third parties you rely on to support your growth. 

It’s also beneficial to seek out opportunities for business coaching and to connect with an experienced ‘veteran’ who could become your mentor. Scaling a business is not easy, particularly if you try to do it alone. Having someone on your side who has been there and done it before can be hugely valuable. 

Joining industry-related groups and business networking events can also become an asset. You’ll be able to share your challenges with like-minded professionals and connect with people who can support you as you scale. Many flexible office spaces have in-house networking events where business owners can meet new contacts and prospective clients and suppliers.

4. Develop your team’s management skills 

It takes more than a founder to build a successful business. Although founders often have specific expertise, scaling up a business requires a much broader skill set. The ultimate aim of any founder should be to work ‘on’ the business instead of ‘in’ it. To do that, you need a team you can trust with the day-to-day heavy lifting. 

Letting go in certain areas can be difficult, but learning how to delegate is a crucial part of scaling a business. It’s also much easier if you have managers you can trust to motivate team members, hold them accountable for their outcomes and achieve their own independent goals. 

Many founders choose to develop management skills among their current team members. However, you should also be open to hiring new employees if your team lacks the change management and strategic leadership skills that are vital when scaling your business.  

5. Focus on your core services

 One of the biggest differences between growing and scaling a business is how you achieve it. Many businesses grow by diversifying their products and services, which increases sales but also costs. However, when scaling, businesses are better served by perfecting their core products and services, which can increase sales without a corresponding rise in costs. 

If you want to scale up a business successfully, you need to focus on your products, services and target market and become an expert in your field. That can help you stand out from the competition and become a market leader.

Steps you can take to focus your offering include:

• Understanding your strengths and weaknesses
• Analysing the competition
• Identifying your customers’ challenges
• Learning from customers’ behaviour and preferences
• Improving your offering to address customer pain points

Importantly, perfecting your core services is not a one-and-done strategy. You should continuously evaluate the changing market and the customers’ needs and evolve your offering to match.

Scaling a Business With Knight Frank 

Are you ready to scale your business? Are you going to embrace flexible working practices? And what about collaborative working techniques? At Knight Frank, we can help you find flexible and private office space on short-term deals that meet your business’s changing needs. 

Get in touch to discuss your scaling requirements with our team. We’ll then use our expertise to find office space that matches your requirements. We’ll even arrange viewings and negotiate the best deal on your behalf - and our service is completely free.