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We’ve all heard the tales about major companies that were once nothing more than a small side hustle in someone’s garage. This is an entrepreneur’s dream, but scaling a side hustle may be more challenging than you might imagine. As a business grows, it becomes more complex, requiring the business owner to take risks, hire new team members and expand into uncharted services or demographics.
It’s critical for entrepreneurs to know how to scale their business without losing focus on the business itself. After all, you have to keep servicing your customers while you are working toward expansion. Here are some easy ways to make sure you are well-positioned to scale your side hustle to the next level.
Related: 5 Keys to Turning Your Side Hustle Into a Successful Business
1. Develop a clear expansion strategy
Scaling a side hustle to a full-fledged business can be overwhelming and scary. The reality is that most entrepreneurs are overly ambitious and set their sights on big accomplishments. The challenge is that without a clear expansion plan, you could hinder your progress or leave your business stuck in side hustle mode.
Take the time to carefully examine what bottlenecks could be holding your business back from growing faster, what opportunities you have to add additional products and which demographics could offer a new customer segment. With a clear and concentrated effort, you’ll be more likely to benefit from each intentional action you take to scale your business.
2. Expand your team
In most cases, growing your side hustle will require additional help to service customers, process orders and manage other administrative tasks. This is probably the most intimidating thing about scaling a side hustle. The first step is to start getting tasks off your plate. Start by automating any recurring tasks that you have. This not only saves you time but means you don’t have to hire someone to do this activity. You can also outsource things like bookkeeping and social media management. By freeing up your schedule, you can spend more time capturing more sales and starting to work on things that will help you scale more efficiently.
Another challenge is that when you’re flying solo, everything falls on your shoulders. While it’s great to get additional employees to help, there may be a struggle to let go and trust others to provide the same quality of care that you put into your business. Strategic business coach Bruce Eckfeldt recommends implementing and documenting standard opening procedures. This ensures that new team members know how to do things to your standard and provide a consistent customer experience.
3. Prepare financially
Cash flow is essential for any business, but it’s especially important for scaling businesses. In fact, over 80% of businesses fail for this reason alone. As you grow your business, you’ll need additional cash reserves to pay for higher expenses, maintain a larger inventory and cover payroll costs. This is especially important when hiring employees, as this will likely be one of your largest expenses. It’s a good idea, as Jeff Sauer recommends, to have a clear understanding of the financial benefit the employee will return to the business before you hire them.
Spend time with your bookkeeper or accountant to better understand what you can do to strengthen your business’s cash flow. In some cases, it might be good to proactively secure a line of credit with your bank that you can use if needed.
4. Invest in the right technology
In the beginning, most entrepreneurs focus on implementing cheap or free technology. This can be beneficial, especially when you have limited financial resources. As you grow your business, you’ll want to implement tools and technology that are scalable. Think about where you see your business in five or 10 years. You should be implementing tools that can handle that future anticipated volume — otherwise, you may be forced to change technology platforms, which can be disruptive for your growing business.
5. Establish KPIs
As your business grows, it’s important to understand if the business remains healthy. A great way to measure your success is by implementing key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics can give you an early indication of something going wrong and help drive performance with your team. You can track metrics like average customer satisfaction rating, shipping lead times, customer conversion rates and total sales volume. To keep the team focused on what’s most important, try to limit the number of KPIs to five to seven key metrics.
6. Get outside support
While you might be an expert in your side hustle, you might not be an expert in running a full-scale version of your business. Don’t be afraid to reach out to others and ask for help, support and guidance. Connecting with other business owners is a good way to tap into their past experiences. If you don’t have those connections to leverage, you can also hire a professional business coach to provide feedback, recommendations and advice on how to make the most of your business expansion.
Related: How to Go From Side Hustle to 7-Figure Business and Beyond, According to 3 Women Who Did It
Scaling a side hustle can be overwhelming. It’s important to recognize that this is a journey and success may not happen overnight. Be patient with yourself. In addition, growing a business requires a lot of hard work. Don’t forget to prioritize your physical and mental health to avoid burnout. By keeping yourself motivated, you can keep moving the needle toward the business you want to have.
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