7 Questions For When You’re Ready To Grow Your Business

Certified public accountant Gerri Lazarre says in the beginning stages of your business, a lot of sweat, energy, and resources are necessary to get your enterprise off the ground before you ready to grow. And with a can-do attitude, many entrepreneurs are able to sacrifice and survive without much structure or process. However, once you’ve survived the crucial phases of startup, the growth and expansion stage can prove to be a bit tougher.

Here are some tough questions Lazarre says that need to be considered as you think about how to grow your business.

1. Strategy – What is your strategy? Should you narrow your focus on your target customer or niche service or product? Have you considered opening up another location to expand your market or possibly franchising as a via business opportunity?
2. Examine the Leader – Invest in yourself, and develop your leadership skills and abilities.
3. Your Team – Do you have the right people on your team (i.e. employees, partners, competitors)? Is their synergy in partnering with competitors and creating alliances with other businesses?
4. Sales & Marketing – What does your sales process look like? Are there economic incentives and mechanisms in place to stimulate the sales function and people? Do you have a brand, has the sales function moved from relationship to business?
5. Operations – Does your operations and processes need improvement? Are your systems and infrastructure relevant and reliable? Have you identified the patterns in your delivery of service or designed products based on what can be repeated and not customized?
6. Finance – Will your financial resources and reports get you to the next level? Are you able to measure and evaluate your business?
7. Access to Capital – Are you able to raise capital and convince investors to invest in your business? Is your credit stable enough to gain an affordable interest rate and a variety of lending products?