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Posted By: jbaloun / |
Are you in a rush? Striving for bigger, better, faster? When you are growing a franchiseor any businessbe cautious of the consequences of overambitiousness. Scaling is a fantastic goal to aim towards, but moving too quickly too soon can be harmful for your business. Slow and steady often wins the race.
Here are a few ways to make sure you’re moving at the best pace and ready for the next steps.
1. Understand Your Growth
Getting to grips with your cash burn and understanding the rate at which you spend capital is essential. Needless to say, expansion will cost money. So any problems that reveal themselves on a smaller scale will be exponentially magnified, which can come as quite a shock. Manage your finances sensibly, and keep a tight grasp on those purse strings!
2. Hire As Needed
A good habit to adopt is to hire only as needed. As the business grows, more staff will be required. Growing a franchise can be expensive and not only in payroll; recruiting costs, training, retention fees, etc., can all add up. As your business grows think about outsourcing where possible in order to hold costs down.
3. Create Milestones
Identify your targets, create realistic goals, and manage your cash. If you need to make changes to meet your goals, you’ll know when to do it. Remember to stay disciplined and focused.
4. Create An Infrastructure
How will you manage your business once it has expanded? Are you prepared for operating on a larger scale? Tackle these issues with a solid infrastructure from the start. It’s the base on which you’ll build you’ll grow.
5. Plan For Cash-Flow Positive
Understand when and how you will be able to get cash-flow positive. As a franchisee, your franchisor will be able to help you here. As your franchise grows, your cash-flow will accelerate. You’ll need to match this with earned revenue.
As you prepare to take that step into growing a franchise, ask yourself a few key questions. Is your business model fully adapted? Is your infrastructure strong? Are you ready and able to expand on all levels of your operations? Is the market ready? And finally: remember, there’s no rush! Take the time to plan and prepare. That extra examination of your business structure will benefit the future growth of your business.