4 Signs Your Startup Is Ready To Scale

You’ve done the work and got through the starting stages of your business. These signs will tell you if your startup is ready for significant changes now.

You’ve done the work and got through the starting stages of your business. Congratulations! Yet you might be wondering when is the right time to scale up operations and reach much higher goals. 

While your customer base is growing, setting an objective to reach your target profit is also advised. But knowing when to take your company further is just as important as how to do it. Unsure of when to take things to another notch? These signs will tell you if your startup is ready for significant changes now: 

 

Your Core Team Is Strong 

 

Any startup business is only as strong as the people backing it up. It’s said that they’re the backbone of your company. Be it three people or more, commitment and consistency are critical to the longevity of your enterprise. Your team should have the same passion and goals as you do. They’ll perform better and shoulder the challenges that come with scaling up. 

But, if you have a small team with each member handling various tasks, the pressure they’ll experience can contribute to eventual worker dissatisfaction. Too much stress directs your team to absolute burnout and the likelihood of leaving your company becomes inevitable. 

To help lighten their load, begin onboarding qualified staff members who each have specific expertise so they can all focus and give their best. 

 

Refusing Business Opportunities 

 

Building a loyal customer base is vital to the stability of your growing startup. The more specific people you know, the more you can network. 

It’s believed that your customers or clients are the pillars that give rise to expansion and steady profits. While your business is developing, it’s common to welcome clients that come your way to establish your brand in the current marketplace. If you need assistance with your startup, you can go here for more information.  

Success becomes evident in the long run through the capacity which your company has grown into. The startup should look after the increasing baseline of customers while the client network spontaneously increases simultaneously. As a result, you may have to start rejecting potential business opportunities because the number of customers is overwhelming your team. 

When you start refusing customers and clients for there aren’t enough employees, inventory, and business hours, it’s a sign that you need to scale immediately. When more people show interest in your business, it means the startup is at the right time to improve its infrastructure, create and plan new goals, and map out the steps to be undertaken for scaling. 

 

Your Company Has Positive Cash Flow 

 

A startup has a positive cash flow when more money is already in the business account than going out. It doesn’t include pending payments from customers and clients. 

Scaling can raise the company expenses before revenue forms. It’s best to prepare for setbacks by using your current financial situation to estimate income and expenses in the future. If your efforts fail, setbacks won’t send your business into bankruptcy. 

It’s regarded that a profitable business and the ability to predict revenue aren’t enough. Learning to control expenses and predict profits is just as essential when running a business. While it may seem obvious, those involved in the startup must identify the time and allotted budget for selling or introducing a new product or service.  

With the given input and output, you must determine how one influences the other while considering the sustainability of the business with the given time and money. Although this will work on many companies, there’s always an exception to the rule. It doesn’t apply to those regularly funding their businesses with a series of financing options.  

 

Your Startup Has A Reliable Infrastructure Already In Place

 

The fundamentals of running startups should be the foundation and focus for the first level. Too many small businesses are believed to fail because they fuss overgrowth without preparation. If you want success, define your target market and value proposition to make the business last with a proven concept.  

You must first prove that your product or service is viable before shifting your team’s concentration on growth. The organizational structure is also essential for an organization, especially when managing the company’s finances. And like a company that values the basics, the company ethos and mission statement must also be in place before scaling up. 

Your business framework should be in place before scaling to allow you and your team to maximize the time and energy you put into growing.  

Conclusion 

Upon its establishment, your business must have signs of growing pains that show it’s time to allocate more time and funding, hire more people and create a plan of execution to go big. Scaling up takes time, energy, and money, and you can’t move up unless you’ve experienced what it was like to keep the business afloat. Keeping your eye on the signs helps you make informed decisions, leading to a better future for your venture.  

How Can An Entrepreneur Move To The UK?

The Visa application process can be challenging for new entrepreneurs, it is wise to seek UK visa advice if you plan to launch your business in the UK.

The UK is a dream place for most entrepreneurs to establish their businesses. It welcomes foreign entrepreneurs, allowing visa holders to relocate overseas and invest in the local economy by starting their businesses.

Entrepreneurs in the USA hoping to move to the UK have a bit more of a structured process and will need to obtain a visa. To start a business in the UK, options worth considering are – Innovator Visa and Start-up visa.

Knowing where to start the visa application process can be challenging for new entrepreneurs in the USA. Therefore, it is wise to seek UK visa advice in USA from professionals if you plan to launch your business in the UK.

With that said, let’s delve into discussing the two types of UK visas and how you can apply for them.

Innovator Visa

In 2019, the UK Visas and Immigration department introduced the Innovator Visa. The purpose of this visa was to replace the Tier-1 Entrepreneur Visa, making it no longer available.

To be eligible for an Innovator Visa, you need to meet the following requirements:

  • Be at least 18 years of age
  • A citizen of the USA and other non-EEA countries
  • Have at least £50,000 to invest in your business and support yourself
  • Have a business idea that is endorsed by an authorized body
  • Hold a certificate of B2 level of English.

For the Innovator Visa application process, the following documents need to be included:

  • Endorsement letter
  • Proof of financial investment
  • Proof of English language skills at B2 level or above
  • Current passport or any valid travel identification
  • Bank statements showing that you have at least £945 in savings in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before you apply
  • Criminal certification for a country lived in more than 12 months for the previous ten years.

Once you get your Innovator Visa, know that it is valid only for three years. However, you can extend that with the option available to apply for the UK settlement after five years.

You must have at least £1,270 in your account for 28 consecutive days before you apply for or extend this visa.



Start-Up Visa

Today, a lot of innovation occurs in the UK, making it a sought-after destination for new entrepreneurs.

Suppose you are recently graduated and looking to launch your business in the UK. In that case, you can avail of the immigration option through a Start-up Visa.

Innovator Visa is available to those with enough funding and endorsed business plans. Whereas a Start-up Visa is created for young graduates with genuine business ideas from the USA and other non-EEA countries.

Like the Innovator Visa, Start-up Visa also has specific requirements, such as unique and innovative business ideas and growth potential. But access to a big lump sum of investment cash is not required.

Here are some of the Start-up visa requirements:

  • You should be over 18 years of age or above
  • Your business should be endorsed by a UK Higher Education Institute or an approved business organization.
  • Proof of English language of B2 skill level or higher
  • Proof of maintenance funds to support yourself. You must have had at least £945 in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before applying for the application.

To become eligible for a Start-up visa, you will need to show:

  • Any investment funds are genuinely available and intended for use as described in your application.
  • Your genuine intention to undertake the proposed business activity.
  • You intend to follow all the business laws and regulations in the UK.

Once your application is approved, know that your Start-up Visa is only valid for two years.

With the Start-up Visa, you can’t extend or apply for long-term settlement. However, if your business is successful, you can switch to an Innovator Visa.

The Bottom Line

Once your visa is approved, you are all set to establish your business in the UK. Know that immigration laws are strictly enforced, so it is always better to stay updated.

Seeking legal help from professionals can be your best bet. They will give you a detailed explanation of all the business laws in the UK.



Ask yourself these 6 questions and you will find what’s holding back your business

There are many ways to go about discovering where exactly you are going wrong.

Running a business is no small feat, but when you feel like your business isn’t living up to its full potential, something has to change. There are many ways to go about discovering where exactly you are going wrong or how to turn things around, like help from JM Reid Group, but asking yourself these questions will help you find what’s holding back your business from higher heights.

1. Are you comparing yourself to the right people?

It is very helpful to compare your business to other similar business when it comes to analytics and market research. But it is not fair to your business to compare to more established companies that have already gone through the weeds, complications, doubts, failed marketing campaigns and more. When you measure your business against one that is truly not your contemporary, you are destined to come up short. They have had more time to make adjustments and improvements you probably never knew about.

2. Do you expect instant results?

When you implement changes it helps to be patient. Most adjustments you make to your business will not bring about instant results. If you lack the patience for good things to come to fruition, you will experience avoidable frustration and stress. Giving your business the time and space to expand and excel is a must in taking your business to the next level.

3. Are you flexible?

When things don’t pan out how you hoped they would, it helps to have a contingency plan. Being flexible allows you to adapt to the market conditions and to take corrective measures. Having a plan is great, but it’s not always a good idea to stick to it no matter what. Bend a little and see where it takes you. You may be surprised by the results.

4. Are you alone?

It is one thing to be the only employee in your business, but knowing when and who to ask for help is essential to the growth of your business. And if you are not the only one handling the workload, you have to trust your team to play their roles. Keeping others on the outside increases your stress. Not to mention, spreading yourself thin keeps you from putting as much effort as you could be putting into what you’re doing.

5. Do you take action?

Having well crafted plans and awesome ideas don’t count for too much if you never take action. All the meetings, criticisms and visualizations won’t make any difference to your business if you don’t make them a reality. If it doesn’t work out, then you adjust as needed.

6. Do you know when to let go?

Knowing when to let go of an idea, project or client is more important than you might think. When you’ve been patient and flexible and it’s still not right, it might be better to wash your hands and and let go.

Don’t stand in the way of your success. Think critically and rationally about the direction you want your business to go. And when you’ve realistically assessed your situation, make a plan of action and hit the ground running. You can find success.

Books that will help you, before starting your business

Here’s a list of books every aspiring entrepreneur must read.

Every entrepreneur needs inspiration to continue with the venture that s/he has set up. The success stories and the ups and downs encountered by people in this field is something they can definitely learn from.

Here’s a list of books every aspiring entrepreneur must read:

The Lean Startup

In this business book, author and entrepreneur Eric Ries takes us through the lean startup approach, which has changed the way that many startup founders seek to build companies and launch new products—largely based around the principle of rapid idea validation before investing heavily into an idea. His definition of a startup is broad, any business from a solopreneur, blogger or freelancer operating out of their garage to a venture-backed project within a Fortune 500 company, as long as you’re determined to discover a successful path to building a sustainable business.

The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs a way to validate business ideas, test their visions continuously, to adapt and modify before any real damage is done. This business book provides a new approach to successfully managing a startup and also talks through some of the innovative online business tools that can help you accelerate your path towards validation along the way.

The Peter Principle

The Peter Principle is based on the logical idea that competent employees will continue to be promoted, but at some point will be promoted into positions for which they are incompetent, and they will then remain in those positions because of the fact that they do not demonstrate any further competence that would get them recognized for additional promotion. According to the Peter Principle, every position in a given hierarchy will eventually be filled by employees who are incompetent to fulfil the job duties of their respective positions.



The Disney Way

Here are some of the things you can learn from The Disney Way:

  • How to give every member of your organization a chance to dream
  • How to stand firm on your beliefs and principles
  • How to treat your customers like guests
  • How to support, enable, and reward employees
  • How to build long-term relationships
  • How to dare to take calculated risks
  • How to align long-term vision with short-term execution
  • How to use storyboarding to make your dreams come true
  • How to demonstrate ‘love’ for employees, customers, products, and yourself

Behind The Cloud

Lesson 1: Focus your marketing on the end user of your product, even if you’re in B2B.
Lesson 2: Always do what’s best for the customer, even if it scares you and might hurt your business.
Lesson 3: When going global, remember to respect the context of other cultures.





Questions every entrepreneur must ask before venturing into market

A lot of entrepreneurs make the crucial mistake of going all in without having the do’s and don’ts of their business figured out.

An entrepreneur isn’t aware of everything about the business he is going to start and isn’t expected to. However, there are some basics he needs to figure out before starting his own business. The business model, target audience, market and long term goals are some things that should be very clear from the start.

A lot of entrepreneurs make the crucial mistake of going all in without having the do’s and don’ts of their business figured out. Not only does this lead to chaos on the business front but also causes hindrances in the whole process leading to a failed venture.

Here’s a list of 5 questions every entrepreneur must ask before venturing into any market:

What problem am I catering to?

Starting a venture and offering a product or a service to the public is worthless if it doesn’t serve a purpose. An aspiring entrepreneur should be able to pin point exactly what he is willing to offer and how it will help his target audience. The value of your product or service is determined by the problem you are solving in the long term.

All entrepreneurs have found a loophole or a need in the society and thus come up with a particular product. For instance, Ola was successful because it solved the problem of availability of public transport.

Related Post: 10 Things I wish I’d known when I started my start-up

How much funds do I require to start?

Many entrepreneurs forget to test their business requisites which is why it goes haywire. One needs to be able to predict how much investment is required to start a business. Also, a lot of people think they require massive amount of funds but later when they actually chart out a plan, the amount is not exactly what they had expected it to be.

For instance, if you want to open a pet accessories store, you need to identify a location which is apt and how much the rent of the store would cost. Also, you need to estimate the cost of inventory and salaries of the helpers in the store. If you prefer opening a store online, you need to estimate website making charges and cost of inventory.



Who and how fierce is my competition?

To do well in business, you need to be absolutely aware of your competitors and what their strategies are. You also need to research about how successful they are in their field. If this initial step isn’t implemented properly, you could take miscalculated steps which could prove to be very harmful for your business.

For instance, if you’re opening a pet accessories shop, you need to find out who your competitors are in the same location and how well they are doing. Also, try and find out their marketing strategies and pricing schemes to avoid duplication.

Related Post: 15 Financial terms every entrepreneur needs to know

What extra am I offering?

It is very essential to offer an extra added value on your service or product without which you cannot sustain. If there is nothing special that you offer, customers will prefer sticking to their brands and not buying yours. As an entrepreneur, you need to figure out what your special sauce is and work relentlessly on your USP.

For instance, L’Oreal came out with a professional range that women at home can use with minimal efforts. Earlier, they had to go to a parlour to get a hair spa done but with L’Oreal hair masks available at reasonable prices, they can sit at home and do the hair spa themselves. This saves time and effort which is why it was so successful.

What resources do I need immediately to get started?

The first step of starting a venture is survival by gathering all the resources one needs to actually get the company going. Immediate resources mean the resources you absolutely cannot start your business without.

For instance, if you want to start a cake shop, your immediate capital requirements would be a shop and ingredients to make the cake batter. Once you start selling cakes, you need to invest in boxes, paper plates, a display case and some tables and chairs if it is going to be an eating joint.

Hence, making a list of immediate requirements and fulfilling them is absolutely crucial because without this step, your business will never take off.

Related Post: 10 things to know before you launch your startup

Image credit: www.entrepreneur.com



20 Questions you have to answer before starting your business

Here’s a game of startup 20 questions that could get you a big payoff.

If you run a business or are just starting one, there are few questions to answer that are worth thinking about. If you have well researched answers to those questions, you will have an easier time attracting critical resources – like capital and talent.

Here are the 20 questions to answer about your business.

1. What is your business’s overt benefit, dramatic difference, and real reason to believe?

Unless it is really obvious why your product is better than anything else on the market and that you can deliver on your promises, you may not want to bother with the other 19 questions.

2. How will your business help society, the environment, and any other affected stakeholders?

Your business ought to make the world better off. You should make it clear how you’ll do that.

3. What is the mission of your business and what overarching goals is it striving to achieve?

If you want to inspire talented people to join your company, your company should have an emotionally compelling reason for being.

4. What have you learned from systematically talking with potential customers?

If you want to convince someone that people will pay for your product or service, ask 100 potential customers. If most of them ask how soon you can get them your product, you may be on to something.

5. How has customer feedback changed your view of the business opportunity?

Use customer feedback to make your company better.

6. Which groups of people are likely to be your best customers?

You’ll have more luck getting customers if you focus on the ones who are most likely to buy your product. Know the traits those potential customers share.

7. What are the revenues in the market you’re targeting?

To calculate this number, multiply the number of people in your target market by how frequently they buy each year by the price you’ll charge them for each unit they buy.



8. What product features and benefits do your customers seek?

You will be competing with other products – know which factors that potential customers compare in picking yours over theirs.

9. What evidence convinces you that customers would buy your product?

I’d be encouraged if you talked to 100 customers and many of them said that your product outperformed rivals on those factors.

10. Who are your company’s competitors and what are its competitive advantages and disadvantages?

You ought to figure out the capabilities – e.g., product development, sales, purchasing – that your competitors are using to gain market share and then take an objective look at how well you perform those capabilities compared to rivals.

11. If you sell a product, how will you distribute it? If a service, how will it be delivered?

Mostly entrepreneurs think distribution is an after-thought – customers consider it hugely important. So you should deliver quickly and correctly.

12. How much will you charge customers for your product?

Have a clear pricing strategy that will help you gain market share.

13. How much does each unit of product cost your company?

Know how much it costs your company to build, deliver and service each unit you sell.

14. Which companies will supply your raw materials or key services and what are the terms of those partnerships?

Find suppliers who will provide the raw materials you need to run your business, Make sure the suppliers deliver quality products or services, on time and at a reasonable price.

15. Are your suppliers socially and environmentally responsible?

Pick suppliers that share your sense of social and environmental responsibility.



16. How will you advertise your business and promote your product or service?

Develop a marketing strategy that gets you the maximum amount of attention among potential customers without spending too much money.

17. How much capital will you need to start your business?

Estimate all the costs you’ll incur to get your business off the ground — then double your estimate.

18. What will your income statement look like over the next three years?

Make reasonable and well-sourced assumptions to project your future income. Investors will question every assumption.

19. How long will it take your company to break even?

To find the number of units you need to sell to break even. divide the profit from selling each unit of your company’s product by its fixed costs.

20. What are the risks of this business?

Be sure you have thought of everything that could go wrong and try to run your business in a way that keeps those risks under control.

With good answers to these 20 questions, you have a shot at getting investors’ cash.

Image credit: blog.cloudmagic.com