Scaling Your Small Business: Best Advice From an Expert
For all the challenges that come with starting a business, scaling one is often even harder. That’s when you’ve established your business, have regular customers and clients, and have something to lose if you can’t sustain and scale it.
To learn more about the common challenges small business owners face when they’re ready to expand, I talked to Heather Sperduto, the VP of sales operations-accountant channel at ADP. Sperduto is also ADP’s small business expert and shares her insights into the key strategies small businesses can adopt to effectively manage growth and expansion.
Rieva Lesonsky: Many business owners think that once they get beyond the crucial startup stage, growth will come more easily. But that’s not true. So what are the common challenges small business owners face when trying to scale their businesses?
Heather Sperduto: [Hiring] talented employees and keeping them on board is top-of-mind for today’s business owners. This can be challenging, especially for businesses looking to scale and expand. And while this can be an exciting time in the life cycle of a business, ensuring that the processes are in place from [when you start] seeking qualified candidates through the onboarding procedures and beyond is critical.
This sets the stage for an employee experience that helps ignite their vested interest in the company they work for, making them part of the culture, and engaged in their work experience.
As small businesses expand, there is also a heightened exposure to risk based on the changing landscape of compliance. Staying current on regulations at the federal, state, and local jurisdiction is a necessity. Three HR compliance trends to gain insight into include the new leave requirements that have been put in place in 13 states; the increased pay requirements, with 20 states and 40 local jurisdictions increasing minimum wage rates; and pay transparency enacted in 20 states.
Lesonsky: What are some key strategies small businesses can adopt to effectively manage growth and expansion?
Sperduto: Small businesses can start by formalizing company policies. This level of consistency helps promote awareness as each new employee walks through the door and interacts with their peers and leaders, so all are in sync with expectations, standards, and accountability.
We live and work in an environment where change is all around us. A willingness to revisit processes and best practices to adapt and evolve to today’s environment often can put businesses in a place to thrive and pivot from that expansion stage to success. Successful business owners are rarely complacent. They tend to seek out the best angles to put their businesses in a positive, winning position.
A modern approach to your workplace activity may look very different than it did several years—or even several months ago. Everything from how candidates view your brand in the marketplace to how a position is perceived in a job description can have candidates heading your way or discourage them. Business owners should think about how they show up in the marketplace, both internally and externally, for their staff and their customers.
Lesonsky: How can small businesses determine the right time to scale and expand their operations?
Sperduto: Having a view into the data and analytics can help a business owner make informed decisions to determine the next moves for their organization. And having the right tools and resources to make this data readily available and accessible is key. As businesses continue to navigate labor market changes in terms of inflation and wages, pay and benefits strategies are more important than ever. This type of timely intel can help employers benchmark their compensation structures to stay competitive and appealing. Look for HCM (human capital management) solutions that can provide that comprehensive view.
Source; allbusiness.com
