The top 20 reasons why business fail

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3 things needed to scale a business

Great Insite by Michael Derin 

1. A leadership team

2. An ability to pivot

3. Ability to outsource

It is estimated that 70% of startups struggle with scaling. Getting a product to market and then gaining some initial interest and excitement is hard work, but it really is just the beginning. Once you have a working business and the wheels are churning then you need to be able to scale that business in order to maintain the future of the business.

Here are our top three areas we feel that many CEO’s miss and need to be doing in order to scale successfully.

1. Redefine your CEO role - your company can't rely only on you

While your company may need a CEO, and you may need something to do, you want to design the company to ensure that you aren’t integral. You want to build a leadership team that can function and make decisions without you. This can also help the business be more agile as it removes multiple layers of approval and red tape. If you are controlling everything and need to sign off and approve everything it can significantly delay your progress and speed.

You will find that by empowering your team to make decisions and be agile they will take more responsibility and you will build a strong culture of performance and accountability.

2. Pivot quickly

You might have launched with a great product that is selling well and have a clear direction that you feel you are heading in. However, changes in technology, environment and the market can mean that you need to change direction quickly.

You may see a new opportunity that wasn’t originally in your plan, but could be even more successful that your current direction. In this case you need to be able to pivot and change direction quickly. Agility in business can prevent you from stubbornly continuing down a path just because that is what you planned. You need to be open to change, and being able to do it quickly.

3. Outsource

There are some functions in your business that aren’t critical to the product and customer experience but are important for long term success of your business. We often find that as businesses grow they have a growing need for HR, legal and financial support. These are often lumped into a pile of stuff that you will ‘get to’, but often they aren’t dealt with as quickly as they could and should be.

Outsourcing these areas can ensure that you are getting expert support for the business whilst you personally focus on more critical areas.