SCALING AND SCALABILITY

SCALABILITY AND SCALING

• About capacity and capability

• Setting the stage to enable and support growth
• Having the ability to grow without being suppressed
• Requirements: planning, funding, systems, staff, processes,
technology and partners
FIVE CRITICAL STEPS TO SCALING YOUR BUSINESS

• Evaluate and Plan

• Find the Money
• Secure the Sales
• Invest in Technology
• Find Staff or Strategically Outsource
EVALUATE AND PLAN

• Are you ready for growth? Where are you now vs where you want to go/be?
• Strategize:
Sales growth forecast (new customers. orders and revenue).
Expense forecast: staff, technology, infrastructure
How much will it cost to achieve the sale/income?
FIND THE MONEY

• Cost of growth: how much do you need to support the growth you
aim for
• Internal funds: initial sales, investment from family or friends
• External funds: loans, outside investment, partnerships, government
grants, etc
SECURE THE SALES

• Look at the sales process.

• Where do you get leads?
• How do you mange those leads?
• How do you convert those leads
• After sales service
INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY

• Create economies of scale

• Automate
• Systems integration
FIND STAFF OR STRATEGICALLY OUTSOURCE

• Human resource needed to carry out the work

• Recruitment and hiring systems
• Benefits and payroll
• Management
• What functions can and should you perform internally? What can’t
and shouldn’t you?
FOUR TENDENCIES OF CEOS WHICH WORK FOR SMALL
BUSINESSES BUT MAY NOT WHEN YOU SCALE

• Loyalty – important during start of the business but may be a liability in

managing a large, complex organization
• Task orientation – focusing on the job at hand but may lead to delays.
Streamline strategy- which should be prioritized?
• Single Mindedness - laser like focus but you need to give other
items/functions equal importance
• Working in isolation – good for developing products at the onset but for
growth, you need to reach out to others