Growing businesses face challenges.
Most owners find that as their business grows and they take on more staff, the stress levels grow and the time to think disappears. You may find that you are spending each day reacting to problems rather than growing your business and it is getting harder and harder to manage your own workload.
At this point, it is wise to take some time, step back and rethink about your business from first principles: what do you personally want to achieve from your business? Look at your systems and processes: do they reduce your workload and will they be fit for purpose as you grow? How much of what you do is necessary, and how much of it is now outdated tradition? Look at your staff: who can you grow to take on some of your tasks, where are the gaps?
It is time to refresh and restart your business; that means looking at what is contributing to your goals and what isn’t. Create a new plan, redo your forecasting, reassess what roles are needed in your business and re-evaluate your own role and tasks.
This is especially important if you are considering entering the export market. Unless your business is operating extremely well locally then exporting can be a considerable challenge to take on.
You can’t do it alone. We suggest that this is the stage where you will see the greatest benefit in getting an outside mentor or business coach, and in joining a business networking group. This will help you to rapidly put changes in place and will help you to understand the potential impact of the changes you will make.
