As a business owner, you have plenty of responsibility on your shoulders, and no doubt one of your goals is to grow your business. Expanding and scaling up your company is almost universally considered a positive in the world of business, but it can have drawbacks. In fact, unchecked growth has the potential to undermine, damage or even destroy your business. That is the sobering truth and the dark side of business expansion.
Fortunately, being aware of some common mistakes can help you avoid them. A closer look at some of these frequent issues uncovers why they can be so damaging.
One mistake to avoid as you grow is lowering the quality of the customer experience. When the number of customers you serve increases rapidly, you must maintain quality as well. Otherwise, you risk providing subpar service to those patrons, and unhappy customers are likely to tell others about their experiences. They may also post negative online reviews, which can hurt your company’s reputation and stall growth.
Employee burnout is another issue faced by many fast-growing companies. If your business is quickly scaling, it is easy to get excited about new opportunities and forget that employees may be struggling to keep up with additional demands. If employees get burned out, you face decreased productivity and high turnover rates.
A growing business may also face a cash flow crunch because with growth comes more expenses. Smaller companies may not have the resources to fund these increases, and more money in and out can make it more difficult to manage financial matters.
Businesses focused on growth may also lose sight of their competition as they try to keep up with the demands of an accelerating company. However, more demand for your product or service also means that there will likely be new competitors entering the arena, or that your current competitors will modify their product or service to attract business. Keeping tabs on your industry and keeping your unique selling proposition (USP) in mind is essential.
Another mistake that growing businesses can make is ignoring research and development. Customers today expect continuous improvement of products and services, which means you must be willing to innovate and adapt to attract and keep your customers.
For more info about these mistakes and how to avoid them, check out the accompanying resource.
