Scaling Up: How To Expand Your Small Business Without Losing Quality

Quality can mean different things to different businesses. For a goods business, this can mean your products are made from the highest quality materials, or that your manufacturing process is truly cutting-edge. For a services business, on the other hand, this could mean you provide the best value for money compared to your competitors or that you have excellent customer service.

Whatever quality is to your business, it is important for so many reasons. The higher the quality of your business, the better reputation your business has, which may attract new customers, or indeed retain existing ones. However, when looking at expanding your business, there is always a risk that quality may suffer in the process. As such, expansion options need to be carefully considered to avoid losing quality.

Automate Repetitive Tasks

For some businesses, routine and repetitive tasks may take up a large portion of time and concentrating on this may stop your business from expanding. By automating these takes through the implementation of new software, or by utilising artificial intelligence, the burden of these tasks can be lifted.

There is little risk of repetitive task automation causing a drop in the quality of your business. If anything, quality may improve as your time can be spent focusing on the core function of the business, instead. However, it may take time to implement any new automation technology, which must be carefully considered when looking to adopt further automated processes within your business.

Outsourcing

Some core business functions cannot simply be automated to relieve the burden. Functions such as finance and customer services may take up a lot of your time as a small business owner. It therefore may be prudent to consider outsourcing this work to a third party.

Outsourcing has advantages, such as the third party being an expert in their field, enabling you to concentrate on tasks that suit your skillset and the business’s needs. However, outsourcing also comes with risks. Using a third-party means you have less control over exactly what is happening; you must rely on the third party to match your level of expected competence and quality, and failure to do so is out of your control but ultimately could damage your business. Therefore, when considering outsourcing as part of growing your business, the third-party must be carefully selected, and that relationship needs to be carefully maintained to effectively deal with any issues that may arise.

Keep Your Documents and Data Organised

As you expand your small business, your business operations will become busier meaning some things may fall to the side. Though it may be easy to overlook, keeping your documents and data tidy and organised will be imperative to the continued smooth operations of your business to ensure all members of the team can efficiently locate and use the files they need. When files get lost or go awry, this can have a serious detrimental impact on productivity and lead to significant delays in various business processes.

Modern day companies tend to store all documents and paperwork in a digital format. Using a document management service can help companies to access, store, manage, and track their documents electronically. It is common for companies to struggle to find the time and resources to manage documents internally, especially when digital files and folders are heavily used by a larger team. For these reasons, implementing a formal document management solution can be instrumental in getting your electronic files under control, ensuring your business continues to operate effectively despite its expansion.

Diversification

When looking to expand your business, it may be profitable to look at the range of products or services you currently offer and see if anything additional can be added to this portfolio. By offering a more comprehensive range of products and services, your business can attract a wider range of customers.

However, with diversification may come issues with sustaining quality. The additional product may not match the standards of quality that your customers have come to expect which may damage your businesses reputation. As such, it is important to carefully plan any new ranges to ensure quality does not take a dive.

Diversification could involve hiring additional staff. It is important to be strategic when making new hires; ensure new staff are competent in their selected role and bring new expertise to the business in alignment with your business and diversification goals.