The idea of growing your business is exciting! Growth of your business means increasing the number of products or services, customers/clients or sales of your company. Alternatively, it could mean a move to a larger office or shop. By growing your business you are allowing your company to have a larger client base, therefore leading to more profit.
Before making changes and expanding your business, you need to ensure you and your business are ready. Here are some ways to check your business is ready to grow:
You Have Regular Customers /Clients
- You need regular customers and clients. You should have a consistent, steady, and ideally an ever growing, customer/client base. Having a regular flow of customers shows there is a continued demand for your product or service.
- You will have repeat customers/clients. This shows that they are happy with what you are offering and this repeat revenue from them helps make your business more stable.
- Ensure you have identified an accurate pricing plan to make certain your regular clients are
bringing in a healthy income. You can only grow if you have enough money to, so it’s important to reflect on the pricing model once you have a regular client base.
Your Customers/Clients Will Want You To Grow
- If your customers/clients are asking for more products or services/ hours, it is probably time to grow the company so you can meet your customer’s demands.
- Be sure to take notice of what your customers/clients ask for and look at any patterns. For example, when your customers/clients call or speak to you with business with requests, make a note in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system if you use one or something similar. This way you can clearly see these patterns emerging and invest in the right areas.
Your Company Has Regular Profits
- Look carefully at your income and expenditure. This will show you exactly how much money your business is earning after all your outgoings. If your profit is regularly increasing, it makes sense to grow your business now.
- When assessing these profits, don’t just focus on your short-term success. These earnings may not last, so be sure to look for long-term successes and steadily growing profits as well.
- Evaluating your incoming and outgoing funds regularly, helps you to understand how well your business is performing and make the necessary changes to become more efficient as a business. Poor financial records and inaccurate data can inhibit you from setting and achieving your growth goals. For more information on this please refer to our blog “What is bookkeeping and how important is it?” by clicking HERE.
Your Industry Is Growing
- If your company is part of an industry that is expanding, growing your business will be easier.
- If your industry is not doing so well, now may not be the right time to expand your business. Even if this is the case you might be able to expand your business by offering new or additional services or products.
- A great way of identifying how your industry is doing financially is by looking at competitors, asking accountancy firms and checking online for your industry’s financial benchmark.
You Have More Business Than You Can Handle
- It might come to a point where your company is bringing in more business than you can manage. You might need to think about more staff or more space.
- By growing your business, this can help you manage your increasing demand and possibly even bring in more customers.
Once you have considered all these points and have made the decision to grow your business, you next need to ensure you have the correct processes and team in place to help with this. Depending on your business this may include CRM systems, recruitment and/or process development. One thing is for sure, no matter what your business does, you need to be able to understand your finances and accounts in order to grow; and have the software to support you.
Investing in automating your bookkeeping can help you save a lot of time on tricky calculations and data processing. Many software providers let you update your accounts from your phone, performing tasks such as scanning receipts and sending invoices, so the admin doesn’t pile up. They also give you reminders to keep on top of things like VAT, unpaid invoices and bank reconciliations.
Alternatively, you can hire a bookkeeper to reduce your workload. They can help you organise, record and report on financial transactions and are comfortable using various software. Qualified bookkeepers are registered with ICB.
Surrey Accountancy Limited can implement and train you/your team to use software that will streamline your bookkeeping. Controlling your business from your mobile has never been easier with the training we provide. You can read more about efficiency with accounting software please refer to our blog by clicking HERE.
For more information on the training in accountancy software service we offer click HERE.
If you would like information or advice on accounting services for your business please do get in touch with our team at Surrey Accountancy Limited.
