The Scalable Business

Building a scalable business is all about laying the foundations: reducing waste, leveraging equity, future-proofing your workforce, creating efficiency and automation.

As an accountant, I am often talking to clients about auditing expenses and overheads, particularly with inflation placing pressure on margins. Take time to review all existing arrangements such as insurance, lending / interest rates, utility providers and leases. Ask yourself if a given cost adds value to your customers. If it doesn’t – it needs to be reviewed and/or eliminated. 

Cashflow and equity provide the financial means to scale up and particularly in the current economic climate, need to be strategically managed to align with the vision for the business. Using a decision matrix can be useful to balance business-as-usual expenditure (maintenance and upgrades) with more significant investments in tech, machinery, mergers or people.

Having the right people and the right ‘seats on the bus’ also needs to be aligned with the vision for the business. Time and skill are vital resources that need to be carefully articulated in a workforce plan. Understand what seats you need on your bus, to scale up. Who currently fills those seats, what is their capacity, capability, and appetite for growth. Ensure you have a back-up person for each seat (in case of illness etc) as well as a future successor.

Optimising operations focuses on processes and people to ensure there is no duplication or inefficiency of effort. Often businesses overlook the importance of documenting processes and systems. This is key to making the most of all inputs, innovations and continuous improvement.  Write them down. Put in place mechanics and tools to share knowledge and encourage smarter ways of working. This ensures mistakes are not repeated.

Automation, including artificial intelligence, is not about eliminating people from a business. It is about removing repetitive, basic tasks, freeing up time to explore opportunities, build new capabilities, deliver better service, and support the scaling up of the business.   

With these foundations in place, you will well placed to grow your business when the time is right.