Keeping it together when your home-based business has a growth spurt

By Hannah Whittenly

There will always be growing pains as your business starts to expand. How you handle these pains will define your future success in the marketplace. Here are some tips to help your business keep it together during a growth spurt.

Solidify your base

Make sure that you have a solid foundation in which to build your business. This may mean that you need to look into redefining the roles or purchase new equipment. Having these things in place before it becomes an emergency will make the process a little easier. One solution for some businesses is to develop a set of procedures. This will allow you and your employees to know what needs to be done during each step of the process.

[amazon_link asins=’1259860906′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’succeeding0d-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’4a9d1a48-6975-11e8-9a4e-9375cf4cb900′]Look into hiring or promotional opportunities

A growing business may mean that it’s time to hire some new personnel. And you may be able to offer advancement opportunities for some of your long time employees. Hire the right people for the job so that you can get off on the right foot. You don’t want someone who isn’t willing to pull his/her own weight. With a growth spurt, there will be challenges that will need to be overcome. This could be logistical, marketing, or other types of problems. Surround yourself with people who have the ability to help solve these problems as they arise.

[amazon_link asins=’1864706791′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’succeeding0d-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’5a922ff3-6975-11e8-b502-4d5dc2a4be30′]Expand or optimize your current workspace

Business may be starting to boom. Look into the possibility of relocating out of your home office into a larger space. This would provide you with the flexibility to bring on more staff to keep up with customer demands. Another solution is to look into a self storage facility. This would allow you to relocate some of those items that are unnecessary and taking up space in the home office. This may free up space to enable to bring in an additional employee to help with the added load.

Branch out your options

Sometimes the best solution to controlling your growth spurts is to keep them more consistent. For many businesses this means that you expand on your partnerships. This would provide you with the ability to better regulate how you grow. Going through random growth can be hard on your infrastructure. You would be better able to plan for the future if you could grow in a more stable and planned fashion. Partnering up with others or adding clients in a more controlled manner could make this strategy possible.

Plan ahead so that you can be successful when a growth spurt does occur. Use these tips to help you survive the process.

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Hannah Whittenly is a freelance writer and mother of two from Sacramento, CA. She enjoys kayaking and reading books by the lake.

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