When you are first starting out in business, everything can be very fun and exciting. You may feel like Superman at one point, especially after you make your first few deals, and you may even feel like you are going to be a millionaire within the next couple of weeks.
However, this is not always the case – in fact most of the time it is not. The early stages of business, even though they can be some of the most fun and exciting times, are also your business’s most fragile time. This is especially true when your first order with a substantial amount of volume comes through. Sometimes growing too fast can be just as hazardous as growing too slowly. How do you safely ramp up volume when the big order you’ve worked so hard for comes in?
Different Volumes, Different Systems
Working in a small business usually means spreading the work among a very small amount of people. That means that this small group of people will be the same people who handle every aspect of the job from point A to point Z.
However, one mistake small businesses make is assuming that what works on a small scale, in terms of systems and workflow, will also work on a large scale and that all they need to do is take on a few more employees to do exactly what they do every day.
However, after a short time operating this way you’ll realize how ineffective, inefficient, and overall fairly expensive it is. It’s tactics like these that can put a small business with a bright future down and out within a matter of weeks – and you will collect a lot of debt fast, acquiring all of your assets and employees that you will need to complete the job with this type of strategy.
Preparing your New Systems and Workflow
One of the first things you have to do when taking on more volume is break up your daily job routines into definable tasks, or jobs. Since everything was originally done by only a few people within the system, that means that there are probably many different tasks that can be outsourced or hired for.
For example: Data entry is one of the most tedious things one can do throughout the week – yet it is absolutely necessary. Not only should you look for special, or customizable software, that can help you automate some of your data entry needs, but you should consider outsourcing every single little bit of your data entry out. It is one of the most cost-effective things you can do in an online business. This is also especially true if you are working in the Internet industry where providing public relations and link-building services need a lot of relationship management – management that comes with a lot of data entry.
The main goal is to chop your work up, take a good look at it, and figure out what will be most cost-effective to have somebody else do. A business mistake that many Internet entrepreneurs make when taking on volume is thinking that they need to hire two or three more “Me’s” – or people that are exactly like them. This model however, is a failing one and shouldn’t be followed.
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