FIELD ENGINEER
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Business
by
Gary McCauley
|
July 26, 2019
For entrepreneurs and start-ups, a rapidly growing business signals success, and it can certainly be indicative of a good business model. However, when over expansion in business happens, it can actually be harmful in the long-term.
If a small or medium-sized company doesn’t have the resources to facilitate growth at such a fast pace, it could compromise business processes and the quality of your output. If you’re unable to deliver, this reputational damage could stay with you forever, and your business may be tarnished because of it.
Healthy business growth is one of the main objectives of any commercial organization, but over-expansion in business should be avoided wherever possible. New business owners may be keen to take on all the orders that come their way, but committing to more than you can handle may be a recipe for disaster.
Having too many customers isn’t something you worry about when you’re starting up. Most entrepreneurs are hoping they’ll be besieged by orders and have customers eager to engage with them. In reality, however, a mismatch between customer demand and business resources can lead to disappointment for everyone involved. Meanwhile, we recommend you to go through how do small businesses benefit from gig economy?
If you want to prevent your small business growing too fast, it’s important to remember the following:
Don’t be afraid to turn down opportunities if your business doesn’t have the resources to deliver. If you’re a small business receiving around a hundred small orders a week, suddenly getting an order for 200,000 products from a major retailer is going to be challenging. However, if you can’t scale your production to this degree, tell your client why.
Trying to appeal to multiple demographics at once can be challenging for any organization, but it places a particular strain on smaller businesses. By trying to please everyone, you could end up please no-one, so it’s better to start small and build up. In time, you’ll have the income and resources to expand your business, at which point you can effectively target additional demographics.
Your existing customers will pick up on sudden changes to your services or products, and even modifying the way you engage with your clientele will be noticed. Be honest about your business growth and why you’re making changes, and you’re more likely to garner their support.
During periods of growth, businesses require additional resources and hiring freelancers is a great way to get it. Small businesses especially benefit from the gig economy. With the ability to access specialist skills and experienced professionals, you won’t need to invest in costly long-term employment contracts or employee benefits. Instead, you can draft in the support and human resources you need to facilitate commercial growth.
One way to capitalize on growth opportunities is to increase your resources, but you need to find a financially savvy way to do so. Small businesses or start-ups may not have the funds to scale up production or hire a large number of full-time staff, but you can access expertise and experience by using freelancers. Recently, freelancers have been the best way for businesses to obtain top talent.
Subcontractors have a wide range of specialisms, so you can find freelancers to perform almost any role within your business. Need to scale up your IT systems to manage an influx of site visitors? A freelance IT technician can do this for you. Want to install a bespoke CRM system to streamline customer service and data management? A CRM certified subcontractor can handle the project from start to finish. Need to migrate your business to the cloud for increased functionality and flexibility? A freelance Cloud Engineer is perfectly placed to provide the expertise you need, as and when you need them.
A major advantage of using freelancers is the reduced costs involved. Instead of hiring full time staff, funding expensive recruitment drivers and offering employee benefits, you can simply engage experienced freelancers for as long as you need them. For small businesses, in particular, being able to scale up your resources without significantly increasing your costs can facilitate business growth more quickly. Businesses have cut costs up to 60% by using freelancers with Field Engineer.
However, using freelancers isn’t just about getting work done cost-effectively. When you use subcontractors, you can access skills that aren’t present in your current in-house team. By supplementing your staff with freelancers, you can respond to your growing business needs, minimize costs and access a wide range of skill sets at the same time.
To find out more about hiring freelancers to facilitate small business growth, sign up with Field Engineer now.
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