Among the entrepreneurs who opt to launch their own businesses, there are some with modest aspirations. They envision comfortable workloads, minimal client interactions, and the notable absence of professional pressure. Those people should be celebrated for following their dreams. Not everyone is cut out for high-end competition.
But you haven’t landed on this website (and this post in particular) because you’re satisfied with achieving low-level success. Once you’ve started your business, stagnation won’t be an option. The typical startup steps will leave you far from your ultimate goal. In short, you’ll want more. More revenue. More profit. More brand recognition. More scope to expand.
This is no bad thing. Your fiery ambition has the potential to change the world. But if you’re going to make the most of it, you need to make the right decisions before you form an operation. There is no doubt that crafting a business model is important. No amount of discipline and ingenuity following your launch will make up for a poorly-chosen business model. To help you out, then, here are some tips for choosing a business model that will set you up for rapid-fire scaling, helping you move swiftly towards your objectives:
Conduct Market And Industry Research
Much has been said about the value of wheel-reinvention, but it’s always worth noting that you don’t get extra points (or additional revenue) for achieving productive ideation without looking at the wider context of your target market. It’s actually far more likely to damage your perceived originality. After all, it’s really hard to be different if you don’t know what the standard is. Laying out a plan with little notion of what others are doing will lead you to reach common conclusions — and having a great business plan must be a key priority.
The smart move, then, is to pay close attention to other businesses already in operation — and those that have launched in recent years but run into major problems. Think about the recurring issue of stores in decaying high streets. New businesses persist in renting units with no novel plans, failing to appreciate that those units are only available because so many similar startups have closed down after mere months. Making the same moves and expecting different results is immensely foolish. How can you deviate from the norm? How can you skirt failure?
You’re ultimately looking for a substantial gap in the market, and a business model that can fill it. What do people want? How can you meet demand? If you can happen upon a great opportunity and maintain the flexibility needed to exploit it, you can start a business that grows rapidly, catching on immediately and giving you scope to scale as quickly as you can manage.
Map Out Your Potential Daily Workloads
What will your business concept actually involve on a daily basis? It’s all very well thinking about the broad nature of your company, but you need to get into specifics at some point, especially since scaling will require an across-the-board increase in activity. If there’s some element of your plan that’s straightforward on a limited basis but likely to prove troublesome on a grander scale, that’s a strong indication you need to make some revisions to your strategy.
It’s because of the inevitable demands that a truly-scalable business model must work in automation whenever possible. Budding entrepreneurs can muddle through countless tasks with sheer effort, but only when they’re just getting started and in a position to make mistakes. It’s totally different to operate once you’ve built up some customers and established responsibilities. Instead of being the plucky underdog, you’re the seasoned pro, and you must act like it.
When you map out your long-term workloads, then, factor in the software and services you can use. For example, you’ll surely need dynamic pricing if you’re planning to sell myriad products in a competitive niche: trying to keep up with market prices is key and can soak up time if you do it all manually (the research alone can take hours every week).
And if you’re aiming to run a subscription-based operation (that model being great for long-term revenue), you’ll find that using a central platform isn’t just helpful: it’s almost a necessity if you intend to keep up. How can you choose the right subscription management software? Will you have the time to learn the intricacies? Do you have the capability? You need to find satisfactory answers to all of these questions.
Review Your Viable Sources of Financing
Every business needs money to get off the ground, but the money demand only goes up when you start to scale. Impressive profitability at an early stage may only serve to cover your costs leading up to that point, after all — and the only alternative to seeking financial support may be to wait until you’ve brought in enough revenue, something that could easily take years. If you really want to scale quickly, you need money from outside. But where can you get it?
How you fund your business is a vital part of the model. If you plan to take out a business loan, you’ll want to lay out a schedule that’s fundamentally safe (in spite of your ambitions). Banks and other such institutions don’t like losing, and you’ll only be able to get a halfway-decent rate of interest if you can make your company seem to be a low-risk proposition.
But if you plan to seek angel investors, you might want to go in the other direction and make it clear that you’re going high-risk. Some investors in some niches like to take wild risks, accepting their minor losses as necessary to earn their massive successes. In short, the more money you can bring in, the faster you can scale — so shape your strategy accordingly.
Assess The Skill Sets of Market Professionals
However well it’s been planned out, and whatever its fundamental value proposition brings to its market, it’s the business's employees that ultimately make it a success. Making smart hiring decisions early on is one of the most important things a business owner can do. So, when you’re trying to find a business model that will scale quickly, you need to think about human resources. Take a look at the professionals currently available. What are they best at?
Let’s think about a big decision that every product creator must make: how to offer their products. Most notably, there’s the classic business-to-consumer approach of setting up a store for purchases of all sizes, the wholesale approach of selling in bulk to customers or other businesses, and the subscription-based approach of shipping items on a regular basis.
If you look around and notice that there are — or have been — thriving wholesalers in your niche, that means that there are various professionals around with highly-relevant experience. Making a good offer to attract a senior-level manager could give you a huge advantage when scaling a wholesale business, allowing you to anticipate typical roadblocks.
Does this mean that you shouldn’t launch a business that operates fundamentally differently from those already on the market? No, it doesn’t: there are transferable skills, after all, and standing out may be worth it regardless. But you should bear in mind that being able to draw upon expert professionals while scaling is a huge advantage.
Get Insight From Relevant Business Experts
It isn’t uncommon for fledgling entrepreneurs to be fundamentally introspective and inclined to keep to themselves. The internet has been a massive boon for solopreneurs, allowing them to find invaluable services and resources without needing to carry out any traditional networking. But even if that resonates with your personal business style, you can’t just wait around in your bubble. You need to reach out, if only to get insight from business experts in your target niche.
Having someone knowledgeable review your business plan (even if it’s only your first draft) will help you to spot even the smallest issues. Just as a writer can’t always edit their own work with precision, a business owner can miss obvious problems with their strategy. You may have only thought about the short-term, for instance, instead of factoring in sustainability.
But that isn’t all. It’ll also help you understand the strengths of your plan. If someone with a strong track record in your industry verifies that you’re doing something right, it’ll majorly boost your confidence, allowing you to proceed with the belief that you’re going to succeed.
Consider What You’re Passionate About
Suppose that you tick all the practical boxes when planning your business. You factor in everything we’ve mentioned here, ensuring that you’ve left no stone unturned in your quest to plan a business that can scale at an impressive pace. Does this all but guarantee your success, barring some kind of natural disaster? Well, not quite. There’s something else to consider, with a question you need to answer: what are you passionate about?
This is a key concern because your plan will only give you the steps to follow. It won’t give you the will to follow them. And it’s perfectly possible to have a near-foolproof business plan yet find that you just aren’t invested in making it a reality. If you aren’t passionate about your company, how will you find the commitment to keep going when things get tough? And how will you create a consistent brand that people can invest in?
Choosing a Business Model That Will Help You Scale Faster
Make no mistake: things will get tough. Whether you want to start your entrepreneurial journey, scale up a business or grow your scale-up business, it won't be a flat ride. Even the most finely-honed business model won’t deliver a flawless ascension to the enterprise level. Competitors will emerge, suppliers will drop out, employees will leave, and you’ll find yourself wondering if the effort is worthwhile. If you have that underlying spark of passion, you’ll keep going. If you don’t, you’ll give up. So be sure to find a business model that you actually care about making a reality. It’s utterly essential. At Growth Hackers, we help startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs succeed by designing for them online business personalized content filled with growth hacking techniques. If you think that a bit of extra help might be necessary to help you grow your business, contact Growth Hackers and we will start to help you from today.
Alexandra Kayleigh
I am a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to supporting startups and small businesses of all shapes and sizes. Visit the blog for the latest entrepreneurial news and side hustle tips and catch us @getmicrostarted.
