So you've decided to scale? That's wonderful! But you need to be careful. While scaling can be great for a business, there are plenty of hurdles you need to watch out for.
2. Scaling !
before !
it’s time
• Don’t scale before you
can work out the errors
still present in the product !
• Don’t increase growth and
production before finding
out who your customers
actually are!
• If you try to scale before
resolving these issues,
your company won’t scale
3. Working with !
the wrong people
• It might be easy to
accept differences early
on, but these represent
long-term relationships!
• Any unresolved issues
are guaranteed to come
back to haunt you!
• If you can, hire people
who have experience
with scaling, but don’t
forget that culture fit is
just as important as
competence
4. Not
focusing on
long-term
demand
• Sales and marketing
are merely short-term
initiatives!
• Creating a strong
buyer market and
building long-term
demand is just as
important to your
overall success
5. Competing on price
• Competing on price often seriously
hurts both profit and quality!
• Competing on quality, ingenuity
and customer service works a lot
better!
• Selling to your customers on the
value you provide lets you keep
prices reasonable.
6. Not changing !
management !
styles
• Style of management
and leadership
changes with the size
of a company!
• A flat structure that
worked well with 50
people won’t work
well with 250.
7. Ignoring issues !
that pop up• Don’t convince
yourself that
things are okay
when they aren’t!
• You need to be
prepared to
confront issues
head on to avoid
long-term damage
to your company
8. Forgetting !
to trim !
the fat
• As your company
grows, certain
aspects, employees
and departments
might not be
relevant any more !
• Dealing with these
issues that aren’t
working is an
important part
towards scaling