How to Successfully Manage a Growing Company
Nearly every business owner and board of directors would like their company to grow. However, with growth comes additional challenges. When your organization was a startup, you could manage things a certain way. However, now that you’re managing a larger organization or corporation, things are different. And they will continue to change as your company continues to grow.
Decide to Grow
Some organizations are wary of growing. Things may be working fine right now and management might be satisfied with company profits. However, there is a danger in managing a business that is not growing. The most critical danger being that, if your business is not growing but your competitors are, they could put significant pressure on you. Your organization’s competitive advantage could be seriously harmed if the other major players in your space are growing while you are sitting still.
Have a Vision
A growing business requires a strategic vision. Much like your organization required a business plan when it was just starting out, it’s critical to have a plan for your company’s growth as well.
Your strategic growth plan should include a clear picture of the current strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for your business. While your business is growing, it’s critical that you don’t lose sight of your current projects and the short-term profitability of your company.
It’s also important to remember that not all growth will be profitable. Analyze your business and the market and look for opportunities where your business can successfully grow and make money.
Create a plan for where you want the organization to be in three-to-five years and then use this goal to create an action plan for getting there. When you’re creating your action plan, think of who will handle the various aspects of your growth. Consider which roles can be managed by those currently working for your organization and if any roles will require new hiring. You will also need to plan for when new employees will be needed and how many will be required.
Delegate
When businesses grow, one of the major issues is that management will need to delegate more than they currently do. For instance, if your management team currently reviews and overseas every aspect of the business, think about whether this will be possible if your company were to double in size. In many organizations, the reality is that some aspects will need to delegated to others. Otherwise, your existing management team could turn into a bottleneck that is restricting growth.
Get Help
As your business grows, you will likely find that it no longer makes sense to handle all aspects of the business in house. You may need more help with accounting or strategic planning than before, and your team may not have the capacity to handle this work. Rather than hiring new permanent staff, it often helps to bring in professional contractors to manage these tasks.
At Ralevic & Ralevic LLP, we produce high quality reports, detailed computations, and professional presentation materials for organizations in various business stages. We can review your organization’s fundamentals, gather information about growth and competitors, analyze the market, and much more. This work not only takes some of the stress off of senior management, but it provides your business with the information you need to grow successfully. For more information, please contact us today.
