I feel like my personal buzzword lately has been “scaling.” I use it when I talk about automation and business processes. I talk about when hiring outside help to do some of the things I can’t.
When I began to research automation and how AI can help me with the menial, repetitive crap, I knew this wasn’t something I could keep to myself.
But the biggest issue, when you take a step back to view the big picture, is that businesses don’t build to scale. They get too excited and buy more locations or hire too many employees.
Scaling the right way is key to not crashing and burning.
So what is the right way to scale?
Four Tips For Scaling, The Healthy Way
1. Automation
Maybe AI makes you nervous. The Terminator is imprinted in our brains forever and it’s such a hot button topic. But I promise you that it isn’t and won’t be like that. Mainly because you’re already using automation in your everyday life. Pre-ordering groceries. Creating playlists. Scheduling emails inside your email provider.
While certain types of AI certainly have ethical and moral dilemmas, automation (in my opinion) isn’t one of them.
You can save time on the menial bullshit like:
- The same emails you send over and over again
- The onboarding process, by sending questionnaires and such on a scheduled workflow
- Helping transfer information from one place to another
- Move along projects by allowing programs to open and close facets to your CRM
- Posting on social media
See? It doesn’t have to be crazy, but I know you know that all of the stuff above is easy but how many hours can you save?
2. Hire People As Soon As Possible
Now, take this with a grain of salt. Maybe your overhead won’t allow this (if you use automation, a lot can be taken care of!), but if/when you can, hire out! Every business is different, so do what feels healthy for your business at the time!
Hiring other people can look like:
- Someone to do your social media, even if it’s designing the posts
- Hiring an accountant because math ain’t your thing (me either)
- Finding someone to write content for you. This was the first thing I outsourced!
3. Nuture Your Customer Relationships
Your business will only grow if your customers talk about their experiences. But how are you wowing them? What do you do that’s different from your competition?
Nuturing client relationships can look like:
- Writing down their birthday and sending a quick email on the day
- Sending exclusive discounts
- Throwing in a freebie here and there
4. Fine Tune Business Processes
What does fine tuning businesses mean? Well, from the moment a potential client contacts you to the moment you off-board them, write down that process. What is the experience you want to give them? What will it take to deliver that experience?
Once you know what you want to offer, it’ll be easier to decide the best tools you’ll need to finesse this!
Business processes look like:
- The emails you send throughout the working relationship. Is it consistent and thorough in its information?
- How do they receive contracts and pay invoices? If it isn’t easy to do in less than ten minutes, then you need to figure out how to make it easier.
- Always aim to cater to the “lowest common denominator.” Maybe this sounds awful, but you’re definitely going to have clients that make you wonder about the size of their brain. Are your processes Karen-proof? If not, find ways to fix that!
Scaling Slowly Is Key
There are oodles of resources out there about scaling, so feel free to dive into Google and find more articles to read up on. Just keep in mind that long-lasting scaling takes time. It takes intention. When it seems to become too overwhelming, just imagine what success will taste like.
I promise it’s delicious.
