Scaling a business is an exciting endeavour for any entrepreneur. The key reason for this being that scaling is the major differentiator between the self-employed stage and the entrepreneur stage. Little wonder you will hear things like “if your business still requires to be physically present, then you are self-employed”.

Scaling signifies growth, success, and the achievement of long-term goals. However, this journey towards expansion is not without its obstacles. Entrepreneurs face numerous challenges when scaling their businesses, but with the right strategies, they can overcome these hurdles and unlock their true potential.

Hiring the Right Talent

One of the primary challenges in scaling a business is finding and retaining the right talent. As your business grows, you’ll need a team that is not only skilled but also aligned with your vision and values. The wrong hires can lead to inefficiency, miscommunication, and hindered growth at different levels.

To overcome this challenge, focus on building a robust recruitment process. Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each position and ensure that candidates have the necessary skills and experience. Beyond the skills and qualifications, look for individuals who possess a growth mindset and are adaptable to change. Foster a positive and inclusive work culture that motivates employees to stay committed to the company’s vision.

Creating and Implementing Efficient Processes

As a business scales, outdated or inefficient processes can slow down operations and create bottlenecks. This is why you must continually optimize and streamline your processes to meet the demands of growth. The statement “this is how we have always done it” should not be a consistent recurrence in your diction”. Be flexible and adaptive to the changes that must come with growth.

To do this, at every stage in your business, you should actively identify areas where processes can be improved. Do you have more complaints than positive reviews now? what are the reviews saying? Do you need to reshuffle your customer experience team? or maybe change your product packaging to something more secure?

This may involve leveraging technology, automating repetitive tasks, or standardizing procedures. Regularly review and analyze data to identify inefficiencies and address them promptly. You may need to have a dedicated Data Analyst in this capacity. Encourage feedback from employees who work closely with these processes to gain insights into their pain points and improvement suggestions.

Managing Growth

While growth is the ultimate goal and a positive one too, rapid expansion can also be overwhelming even for serial entrepreneurs. It may strain resources, both financial and human, and lead to a loss of control over various aspects of the business. Mentally picture how going from 20 to 200 customers can mount pressure on the different teams.

To manage growth effectively, it’s crucial to plan strategically. Create a detailed growth roadmap that outlines the steps needed to achieve your expansion goals. Prioritize tasks and set achievable milestones along the way. Ensure you have access to sufficient capital to fuel your growth without compromising daily operations. Continuously monitor and reassess your plans to stay on track and make necessary adjustments as circumstances change. Also, you must be flexible enough to identify and activate the changes that become necessary with the achieving of each milestone.

Financial Management

Improper financial management is a common pitfall when scaling a business. As revenue and expenses increase, keeping track of finances becomes more complex. Failure to manage finances properly can lead to cash flow problems and jeopardize the entire scaling process.

To overcome this challenge, maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records. Invest in robust accounting software and consider hiring a professional accountant or financial advisor to ensure compliance and smart financial decision-making. Remember that you cannot be all things to the business. Regularly review your financial statements, cash flow projections, and budget to make informed choices and keep your business on a stable financial footing.

Maintaining a high standard of Customer Experience

Amidst rapid growth, maintaining a high standard of customer experience becomes challenging. Neglecting customer satisfaction can result in a decline in customer loyalty and damage your brand reputation. The fact that customers grew from 20 to 200 is good news but you also don’t want the complaints growing from 5 to 50 or more. Put in the necessary checks to ensure that customers always get that experience that will keep them retuning.

To excel in customer experience, prioritize customer feedback and actively seek it out. Engage with your customers through surveys, social media, or direct communication. Use the feedback to improve your products, services, and customer support. Additionally, empower your team to go the extra mile for customers, providing personalized interactions and solutions to their problems.

Scalable Technology

Although this article is focused on the challenges of scaling, it is inevitable that technology should come up as a point. Technology is the backbone of scaling businesses. Outdated systems may struggle to cope with increased demand, leading to inefficiencies and frustrated customers.

Invest in scalable and reliable technology infrastructure from the start. Don’t make the early technology decisions based on where you are at the moment. Make them based on where you plan to be. Cloud-based solutions, automation tools, and scalable software can help your business handle increased workloads without disruptions, and you may want to opt for such technology from the outset. Regularly update your technology stack to stay current and take advantage of the latest advancements.

In conclusion

Scaling a business comes with its share of challenges, but with the right strategies and mindset, entrepreneurs can overcome them and achieve sustainable growth. By focusing on hiring the right talent, implementing efficient processes, managing growth strategically, maintaining sound financial management, prioritizing customer experience, and leveraging scalable technology, businesses can navigate the scaling journey successfully.

Embracing these challenges as opportunities for improvement will not only lead to expansion but also to a stronger and more resilient business in the long run. And as you can guess, you will be the biggest beneficiary in the end.

On Wednesday July 12, one of the top FMCG in Nigeria – Cadbury Nigeria PLC. – announced that it has temporarily halted the production and sale of its Cadbury Bournvita Biscuit due to complaints about its high price. The product was introduced into the Nigerian market in November 2022, and some 8 months later, has been withdrawn from the market as distributors hint that the high price is hindering sales.

For those who are just hearing the story, here’s the shocking part.

The biscuit in question is available in two consumer pack units containing six and ten cookies, priced at N60 and N100 respectively.

The next question is – if products costing N60 and N100 are described as expensive, what does that tell you about the market?

Cashflow is low. When consumers have less cash, they cut down on their spending.

And when cashflow is low, the first businesses to be affected are the small businesses, as they do not have the economies of scale advantage the medium and large-scale businesses do.

As an entrepreneur, this is the right time to build a cashflow management strategy if you have not done so in the past. Keep in mind that the cashflow management strategy will be a key determinant as to which businesses go under, and which ones stay afloat and profitable.

Here are some tips you may consider to effectively manage your cash flow.

Budgeting & Forecasting

This may be the most over-flogged tip in the history of business, but it is a valid one. Times of low cashflow are the times to work strictly with budgets. Once you have a clear idea of when and how your revenue flows in, you need to budget the outflows in line with it. Make a budget for everything.

When you combine this with forecasting, this is what you get.

• First estimate or forecast your revenue and expenses for a period of time. Let’s say 3 months.
• Next, Allocate funds to the core expenses first, and then to others.
• Next, identify your expendables. What are those things you can do without in the event that you get less revenue than you projected
• You can even take it further by anticipating ways to cut down on the expenses, or activities that may increase your revenue.

For a small business, Budgeting and Forecasting are essential for operating at peak efficiency.

Negotiating payment terms with Suppliers and partners

Sales may slow down in these times, and if you are looking to improve and optimise cashflow, then you may need to renegotiate payment terms with vendors. Your negotiation will be dependent on what you want to achieve. Are you looking to expand your operations or do you want to free up a little capital for a new product launch?

In this case, You may want to make slight modifications to the payables schedule so that you give your cashflow some breathers. Before you start this renegotiation, take time to go through your existing agreements, and be sure to check for cancellation clauses and penalties. Instead of waiting till you default on payments, be proactive and let them know if you want some days added to the current payment schedule.

Make sure to get a win-win solution and offer something in exchange for better payment terms.

Optimizing working capital.

A core part of your job as an entrepreneur is to manage and even optimise your working capital. If you have a CFO or someone else in charge of your financials, it may reduce your job considerably, but the buck still stops at your desk. The key tip here is to optimise working capital so that you are not forced to go a-borrowing to meet short-term financing needs when you have idle cash stuck in something that may be a long-term need.

Make all efforts to decrease your outstanding accounts receivable, so that you have cash to run the day to day operations. You should also optimise your billing processes so that payments can be seamless. You may also need to reevaluate Slow-moving SKUs, as they are often a source of hidden working capital losses and absorb warehouse space with maintenance costs. The idea is to keep turnover high, and the cash flowing through the entire cycle.

Here’s a bonus tip.

Like other small businesses, you may be reconsidering your pricing in line with the new economic realities like increased cost of operations. If you have to review your price upwards, it could be a great idea to offer a little extra value to the buyer. It may be some aftersales value or presales, but if the buyer feels like they are getting a little something extra, they may be less resistant.