Taking Your Business To The Next Level: Be Prepared For A Giant Leap
After a while running a business, you get to a point where you start to feel secure. The early days are so packed with adrenaline - plenty of high spots, yes, but some dizzying lows too.
When you've been running things for a while, and it's all going well, it's right to give yourself a pat on the back. You've lived through the sleepless nights, so if you get the chance to sleep in, take it.
Of course, this is the point where it is a little too easy to get complacent. The truth is that in business, you are never over the finish line. There's always a little further to run, but the big difference is that you know how to pace yourself. So it's a balance. You haven't won, but you're further from losing than you've ever been before. Now, and you might not want to hear this, is where you prepare to kick on.
Your business can always get bigger, but as a relatively new business your options are more limited than some. You need to be more creative than, say, the CEO of a global business. They can buy a few new buildings and hire a few thousand people. You, owning a small business in its relative infancy, don't have those options. Your scope for growth, instead, lies on the margins. It's there, but it takes work.
One thing that makes it difficult is how difficult it can be for newer businesses to borrow money. Banks and brokers are reluctant to lend to newer businesses because they consider them a high risk. In the aftermath of a financial crisis less than a decade ago, they want to make double-sure.
Finding the finance to really grow your business can be tricky, but if things are going well you will want to strike while the iron is hot. If you want to expand your premises or stay open longer, it will take money. Your overheads increase, and you may need to take on more staff. You can borrow against your short-term future profits; this is how merchant cash advance works. If you can't get a small business loan, this is a sound option.
Building a business takes many skills, but to get to the point where you are looking to expand shows you already have those. From this point, you need to have confidence in those skills. Effectively, with borrowing at this point, you are mortgaging your future income. If you're confident that that income will be substantial, then the risk really isn't that great for you.
In business, investment and in so many other fields, it is a question of speculating to accumulate. You need to be committed, because just throwing money at any situation is like throwing it down a drain. But the opportunities that that money can open up are real - and if you set about taking them, you can really clean up. Making it to this point is the hardest part. Building on it is something you owe to yourself.