You’ve got a minimum viable product with truly disruptive potential. You’re eager to build a vibrant, fast-growing company around it. You’re just not sure how to tap into this growth mindset and scale faster than your competitors.
It’s not as daunting as it sounds. Follow these growth-oriented best practices to achieve rapid, sustainable growth that does your vision proud.
Focus on Avoiding “Unforgivables”
Your customers expect you to meet certain basic obligations, like keeping your website active or maintaining adequate stock levels of sought-after products. Failing to do so is, in their minds, unforgivable.
As anyone in business can tell you, customer patience is not unlimited. And even the appearance of failure may stimulate attrition, dampening your momentum and the internal morale that you need to continue on your growth trajectory.
So what should you do? “Before going to market, create a basic safety net that reduces your likelihood of triggering an unforgivable event,” recommends George Otte, Miami entrepreneur. “Implement straightforward systems and procedures that quantify risk, prioritize action, and address change.”
Don’t Settle for Less than Optimal Hires
Don’t hire for hiring’s sake. No matter how many positions you need to fill, hold every candidate to the same exacting standards. You can paper over poor hiring decisions for only so long; eventually, you’ll have to make an even harder decision to correct the mistake.
Reduce Adoption Friction
Devote time and talent to making your product or service as easy as possible to adopt. That’s how you’ll drive user growth and create the external appearance — if not the reality — of growth. Free trials, complimentary installations, freemium pricing models, and one-click ordering all work well in different applications, but your ideal low-friction adoption model will depend on circumstances specific to your company and/or niche.
Invest in Great Customer Service, No Matter How Big You Become
Never skimp on service. Your customer contact team should be reachable in real time around the clock. If that means setting up a call center or live chat hub halfway around the world, so be it. The positive impact on your company’s standing and industry reputation will more than offset the added overhead costs.
Remember the old saying: “the customer is always right.” Don’t make them feel wrong for trying to reach out to you.
Bring in Outside Experts
It’s impossible to overstate the benefits of hiring a business coach or management consultant to help your business grow. If you feel that you can’t look at urgent matters with fresh eyes any longer, it’s the perfect time to take this step.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Make this your mantra. No matter how strong your work ethic, you’ll get ahead faster by working smarter: automating repetitive tasks, delegating lower-value functions, replicating yourself so that you don’t have to personally attend to matters that don’t require your full attention. Living at the office might be a badge of honor to some, but maintaining a life outside of work will help you avoid burnout as you scale.
Have more ideas for scaling your startup faster and smarter? Please share in the comments section below.
