Every day a new business idea takes birth — it’s hardly surprising that approximately 50 million startups are set up each year. But only a handful of them can sustain and survive.  74 percent of startups perish due to premature scaling. Knowing when to scale and how to do it effectively can be a real gamechanger. 

What does scaling your startup really mean?

The exponential growth of a business is known as scaling. However, successful scaling should incur minimal costs and increase revenues.

Your startup’s scalability demonstrates whether your business can grow without threatening the performance or causing a loss. Successfully scaling your business allows you to serve more customers efficiently and boost your profits.

Once your startup enters the growth stage, it is time to start thinking about scaling. 

What’s the secret sauce for scaling your startup?

Scaling is a culmination of several factors. While it is hard to pinpoint a single trick in the book, here are five practical tips you can apply:

Be accessible to the public

As the person spearheading the company, you need to carve an identity for yourself. Remember that Steve Jobs was just as popular as Apple Inc. 

Once the target audience starts recognizing you, it will be easier to drive them towards the website to sell your product or service.

Most customers don’t like dealing with faceless companies. Start by building your presence on networking platforms such as LinkedIn. Don’t push your product like a salesperson. Instead, talk about the motivation for designing it, and what pain points it can address. Make sure your profile also features on the business website. 

Outsource what you can

If you are serious about scaling your startup, you need to stop functioning as a one-person army. But that doesn’t mean you hire without a strategy and erode the revenues.

Here’s what you can do instead — for optimal use of resources, hire employees on a contract basis or engage freelancers. Doing that might work out cheaper than hiring full-time employees and renting office space. 

Focus on making the startup less labor-intensive — if all the functions of your startup remain in-house and you have an army of employees to manage, scaling your business will remain a pipe dream. 

Evaluate your finances 

Capital is a critical component for scaling your business. If you dream of going from USD 5 to USD 50 million, you will need to think beyond self-funding. 

Pull out your cash flow statements and P&L account to make a fair assessment. Revisit your financial projections. Start talking within your network about the possibility of a fundraising round. Since fundraising is a long drawn process, the earlier you start, the better are your chances of succeeding.

Make your business functional without you

Will your business collapse if something happens to you? If the answer is in the affirmative, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. 

Work on putting the right processes in place so that business is not solely dependent on your work alone. Repeatable processes make it easier for everyone else in the organization to know exactly what’s to be done. 

For example, if you are handling a bulk of the cold calls made to prospective customers, stop it right away. Instead, work on a script for cold calling and train your marketing team to follow the script every time they need to call someone. This will free up your time, allowing you to focus on the other demands of your business. 

Be honest about it 

Some of the best business ideas are not scalable. You need to be brutally honest about what you offer and if it has the potential to grow. 

Moreover, overnight success stories do not create lasting value. If your startup is better off growing slowly and steadily, work towards achieving that. Pushing too hard to scale too soon can result in failure, affecting your morale and self-esteem. 

The decision to scale should be a natural consequence. Not a forced decision to stay at par with your competitors. Scaling to sustain is far more important than joining a rat race to scale too quickly. Staying small and lean can offer unique advantages and still add value to your business.

Need more advice about scaling your startup?

Scaling is a mindset. With the right attitude, it can take your business to the next level. Do it hastily, and you may drive your business into the ground. So start your scaling journey by asking yourself if you are ready and put the processes in place. 

Finding it too daunting to do it on your own and need someone to empower your entrepreneurial growth? That’s why Jupiter Business Mentors is here!  Reach out to business mentors who bring in a breadth of experience about scaling your business through their business consultant services. They can guide you through the process and share more practical advice to turn your dreams into reality.  We connect the start-up community and small & medium businesses to the right mentors who can help them in their growth journey. 

You can book more than five sessions at discounted rates. You can also opt for a single session. Subscribe immediately to get 90 minutes of free sessions with any six mentors on the platform!