3 Keys to Removing the Risk from Rapid Business Growth

Business owners will often say that rapid growth is too risky to be worth the investment. It’s true that a lot of things can go wrong during this critical business phase. But the truth is, rapid growth is a vital part of the business cycle, and rapid growth is what will take your company from passive income to massive profits. The companies that have succeeded with rapid growth cycles will disagree that the risk isn’t worth the investment and the time it takes to create and implement a fool-proof rapid growth strategy.

You can’t eliminate all of the risk involved with a rapid growth cycle, but you can reduce it with proper planning, and the right resources for this exciting, yet intimidating time. Here are some of the most significant risks that rapid business growth generates, and how you can minimize and eliminate these common pitfalls.

Remove the Risk of Rapid Business Growth with These 3 Steps

A rapid growth cycle that is planned, focused, and strategic will enable your business to expand and capture increased market share. When the most common risks associated with a rapid business growth cycle are accounted for, you will see a massive increase in revenue. If you can implement these next three steps, your business will survive the rapid growth cycle, thrive, and come out ahead much stronger than before.

1. Control Your Spending

During a rapid growth phase, your business will quickly outpace its current capacity and scale. But this can lead to a host of issues if you aren’t mentally prepared for it. A lack of preparation for this risk can cause your finances to go off the rails and sabotage your growth. Business owners will often respond to these new financial demands that arise during a hypergrowth phase by doing one of the following, risky things:

• They will spend frivolously, banking on money yet to come from future sales, or that has already come in from their investors.
• Or they become restrictively frugal and don’t want to spend and invest in anything.

What are the biggest issues with either of these strategies?

In the first scenario, business owners will run out of money before the demand for it is satisfied.

Being too frugal restricts their ability to grow and take advantage of the rapid growth cycle when they are unable, or unwilling, to invest in high-quality staff or technology that saves time.

Fortunately, you have several solutions at your disposal to minimize this risk:

• Plan ahead. Know your expenses before you start cutting checks.
• Know what investments are going to enhance the rapid growth phase, and which expenses are truly frivolous.
• Build a system, or create a checklist to help you decide if you should spend or not when you are unsure if something is a worthy investment or a frivolity.

2. Set Realistic Goals for Sales and Marketing

When the demand for your products or services is high, you can get a false trust in the sales and marketing teams to maintain this increased demand. Customers may want what your company is offering. But your marketing team will need to continue to deliver. The issue here is that constant, increased demand isn’t always how things work in the real world. To get your expectations aligned with reality, you need to internalize the following so that unrealistic expectations don’t sabotage rapid growth and alienate your best team members:

Sales and marketing teams can’t control everything.

Market behavior can shift, and new competitors can enter the field. Also, many factors that are beyond the control of you or the marketing team can sway the public’s opinion. All of these factors and more can influence the results of the sales and marketing team. It’s typical for demand to ebb and flow throughout the turning of the business cycles.

What’s the solution?

You need to set realistic goals, so they align with your growth strategies. Ensure that your sales and marketing personnel have the proper technology in place to help them and that they’ve been adequately trained. Establish SLA agreements between marketing and sales to ensure a smooth transition of customers.

3. Plan Your Staffing

You might have a complex product or service. Or you might have something simple. Either way, staffing is critical to ensure the integrity of a rapid growth phase. It’s never a strategic, good move to hire and fire your way to success. The biggest risk facing you here is that employees, current and former, talk. Sometimes, they talk to everyone you don’t want them to talk to. With social media and third-party review sites, what they say can be visible to everyone, forever.

If you treat employees poorly, or you hire too quickly without proper training and vetting procedures in place, a disgruntled or problematic employee can leave negative reviews about your company online. This will impact your ability to find and hire new talent.

What’s your solution?

Effective hiring starts with the interview and onboarding process. Hire a professional to help you quickly hire and onboard staff members for all areas of your company – from upper management to the factory floor. Professional hiring managers and HR specialists have the experience necessary to find, vet, and onboard the right staff for a rapid growth job. Getting the right team members in place for a critical rapid growth cycle will enable your company to achieve the success you have in mind.

Are you gearing up for a rapid growth phase for your business?

We can help. At Mogel RPO, we understand that staffing your company for rapid growth is a crucial component for this critical phase of the business cycle. The wrong staff members will sabotage even the best-laid plans, and this is a risk you can’t take if you hope to achieve your business goals. Bad employees will decrease productivity, lower morale, and in a worst-case scenario, they will derail your entire rapid growth strategy.

Our experienced team of rapid growth professionals knows how to find and onboard the right people for your company. Call us or contact us online today and see how we can take your rapid growth strategy to the next level.