In this Treasure Tuesday, join me as I boldly claim that scaling a business by ten times is easier than just doubling it. Find out why, as I’m giving three tips for business growth or scaling a business that I hope you will find useful!
Summary
Scaling a business by ten times is easier than just doubling it. I know; that sounds like a bold claim. Here are three tips:
- Build systems for effective knowledge transfer
- Embrace change and take calculated (less) risk, and
- Invest in training infrastructure and create a growth culture.
Build Systems for Effective Knowledge Transfer
Without systems for effective knowledge transfer, it is impossible to scale a business 10-fold (unless it is currently tiny). I recommend you do this:
- Build systems for capturing and teaching critical knowledge. Make it immortal by not just teaching person-to-person but also putting it into systems (documents, videos, flow charts, checklists, training portals, etc).
- Make *unconscious competence (*knowledge that is forgotten but still present) teachable. That is knowledge you (or someone else on your team) use automatically, and that is why it is normally next to impossible to teach that to others. (That is what we teach and do at The Brilliance Mine.)
Embrace Change and Take Less Risk
Of course, scaling a business by ten times means inevitable change, but I encourage you to focus on making calculated risks. My recommendations are:
- Reduce the risk of costly mistakes by building effective knowledge transfer systems.
- Reduce the risk of losing key knowledge when key individuals leave the company. Rest easier knowing that critical knowledge is stored in a system that can be accessed when it is needed.
Investing In Training Infrastructure and A Growth Culture
You need the right training infrastructure and culture to scale your business by ten times.
- Create a culture where employees are not afraid to share their knowledge.
- Help them see the benefits of effectively sharing knowledge. Employees need to understand how the growth of the company benefits them.
- Monetarily: Bonuses (whereby the recipient must understand how they earned that bonus), salary raises, or employee ownership
- Professional and personal growth: Learn and advance faster; get to do more exciting projects and tasks
- Give yourself (the owner) and your team more time to tackle new innovations.
- Create a win-win scenario where your employees are happy and well-trained. This will lead to stellar and safe growth and keep you at the cutting edge.
Scaling Your Business By a Factor of 10 is Easier Than Doubling It
The reason is simple: When you aim to double your business, you may still think it is possible without implementing the three strategies we are discussing here. It will rob you of any chance of having a work-life balance, and it will likely be slow and painful. But when you aim to grow by a factor of ten, you know you MUST do these things. And with that, growth is easier, less risky, and far less painful, and you can actually have a good work-life balance in the midst of it.
I’m Curious
I’m curious about your plans to scale your business! Please write me a note – I’d love to hear from you.
Live brilliantly,
P.S.: I appreciate you commenting and sharing this Treasure Tuesday with others. Thank you!
