3 Ways to Reduce Growing Pains When Expanding Your Business

The axiom, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is never truer than in a growing business.

In order to reduce growing pains at the point of business expansion, a solid foundation of planning well in advance is necessary.

Ways to Reduce Growing Pains of Business Expansion

Once specifications of business expansion are clarified during the planning phase, there are three ways to reduce growing pains that include:

• Reinforce management strategies
• Maintain departmental accounting reporting that becomes cumulative
• Secure greater employee support, motivation and productivity

Reinforcing Management Strategies

When a business arrives at the realization it is time to expand, management styles and structures require thorough review and changes. There are many important aspects of a business that can fall through the cracks whenever changes are being made. This is why it’s important to make sure that there is a strategy in place for making big changes instead of trying to put out fires as they come up.

If expansions lead to the need to change management providers, this is an issue that should be a priority.

Lack of comprehensive management during business expansion can be costly in loss of clientele and possibly staffing. Reinforcing management strategies reduces normal growing pains related to expanding your business. It also avoids a negative impact on organizational changes.

For example, if the management strategies are too weak or are insufficient for the increase in the number of clients resulting from expansion, the ability to serve and satisfy the needs of customers creates the appearance of loss of quality standards.

Maintain Departmental Accounting Reporting that Becomes Cumulative

With a growth in customers, an increase in business supplies and additional staffing to manage business expansion, cost accounting is crucial to monitor the health of your business.

It is at the point of expansion that cost accounting by department is necessary. If this cannot be done by in-house staff,seek an outsourced accounting or CPA group to manage the extra work involved. Ultimately, departmental accounting becomes a cumulative business report that forms a view of the financial state of your business.

Secure Greater Employee Support, Motivation and Productivity

Many employees with company seniority resist changes due to expansion

To reduce these growing pains, address the issues of employee support, motivation and productivity in the early phase of expansion.

A briefing prior to the actual expansion reduces employee resistance to change. However, once expansion is firmly in place, management should provide additional employee programs that increase motivation and productivity. These can be recognition or rewards programs on a department by department basis or for individual employees.

Highlighting employees who have adapted well and have made significant contributions to further the stability of your business is a path toward greater employee support, motivation and productivity.