First of all, congratulations! It is a huge accomplishment not only to start a company that creates an income, but if you are leading a company that is currently growing in this market, you are truly an accomplishment. But, I’m sure you’ll immediately tell me, “Yes, business is good, but what about the future?”
The future is uncertain. It always has been and it always will be. That’s just something that you’re going to have to accept. But, regardless of what the future brings, there are still best practices to live by within your business growth.
Limit Your Risk
Whether you’re big or small, don’t ever put your company in a position that might cause it to fail financially. Some of the worst decisions are prompted by a huge opportunity that just never materialized. The business leaders thought it was their big break so they borrowed a bunch of capital and rushed toward the pot of gold. Unfortunately, when they reached the pot, there was no gold to be found, this pot was empty. And, to make matters worse, when they turned back around to look at their existing business, it was a mountain of debt instead of profits.
Even if your business is a small fish, you still need to understand what actions put your operations at risk and which ones give you opportunity. But if failure should happen, your fins are still fully functional and you can continue to swim.
Open the Doors to Opportunity
If you have a chance to grow and you do not have to overcapitalize your venture, go after it with open arms. I think every business, whether they realize it or not, has an opportunity in front of them. They just have to know what that opportunity looks like.
There was once a small computer servicing company that only serviced computers within their customers’ homes. In other words, they would get a call from someone that needed help with their computer and one of the employees would jump in their car, head to the customer’s house, and help them with their problem. This worked great until there was a murder near their servicing area. Suddenly, no one wanted anyone in their home. Instead, they wanted a service where they could go and just drop off their computers for repair.
There was no business like this for miles, and while it sounded like a good idea, there was absolutely no space in their small office to house an operation this large. Unless…. That’s when the spark happened and an opportunity was born. There was another room in the office building, but it was housed with all of their data servers and hard drives for their corporate data and history. This was important, but what if they could partner up with a company like InTechnology to create a virtual server hosting that would allow them to get rid of all these excess drives and PCs? It worked like a charm. The room was cleared out and they had their very own servicing room. Today, they have even more business than they did before because they opened their doors to opportunity.