As a business grows, you will face new challenges! Different problems and new opportunities demand different strategies because what worked a year ago may not be the best approach today. 

Recognizing and overcoming the common pitfalls associated with growth is essential if you want your business to continue to grow and thrive. 

Does your business grow? It’s time to overcome challenges!

When I launched my business in 2013, my first goal was to generate enough revenue to pay all my business and personal expenses while studying abroad.

But soon, I realized that growing businesses also meet challenges… and they can be positive!

Yes, it’s true!

I decided to be positive and face every situation positively, embracing each challenge with a solution, without stress, and with a smile. It was not always easy, but the journey (and the right mindset) was worth it.

Awesome! You just kickstarted your business a few months ago and now realize you must leave your comfort zone to move to the next level.

Here are some fantastic challenges you will be facing as your business grows:

Keeping up with the market

I launched my business without market research… 🤦‍♀️

I had clients who needed my expertise, so I decided to create my business one day to allow me to study abroad. In 2013, I offered everything: marketing plan, business plan, sponsorship plan, executive recruitment, managing events, and creating budgets. Then, I never looked at the market or my competitors for the first year.

My business was successful, and I reached six-figure in less than six months… but I soon realized I didn’t know what my competitors were offering, and my biggest worry was that one day I could have zero clients… none!

As a business coach, I always tell my clients that understanding where their products/services are in their lifecycles can help them work out how to maximize overall profitability.

Keeping up to date with their market and the technologies and being creative and open to thinking outside the box will allow them to succeed over their competitors.

So I guess I had to do the same, keeping myself up with the market I was in! I looked at my competitors to see what I was doing differently and what could be my competitive advantage to promote my business.

I took the time to build an in-depth picture of what my customers want, what I want to do as a business coach, and which marketing approaches will work best.

And guess what? Taking the time to talk to my key customers paid off. They were essential sources of market information.

After benchmarking the market, I decided to niche down and focus on strategy to teach women how to create and run successful & profitable businesses during all seasons of their journey.

Some of my clients are just beginning their online business; others need help to grow and manage their side hustle and switch it to a full-time business… others are ready to acquire another business or sell!

My question would be: Are you keeping up with your market? Do you regularly track your market (every month, every year)? How (market research, client surveys, focus group)?

If you are facing challenges, take action NOW!

Managing your cash flow

First, let’s discuss the difference between a budget and a cash flow forecast. A P&L (Profit and Loss Budget) and a Cashflow forecast are two different tools I love using for my business.

However, I realize that not all business owners use a cash flow budget to manage their business.

The budget (your P&L) will show expected income and expenditure for an entire 12-month period. In contrast, the cash flow forecast will break down month by month when you expect the money to be spent or received.

What’s important to remember is that your P&L budget won’t consider when you will receive payments and when you will pay your expenses. If you invoice a client today, it may take days or weeks to get paid, and you need to keep that in mind as your business grows. 

WHY? 

Let’s say you doubled your revenues this month and decide it’s time to hire your first employee or rent your first office space.

Awesome, but it’s essential to take the time to look at your cash flow budget because, for a growing business, cash constraints can be the most significant factor limiting growth, and overtrading can lead to bankruptcy.

If your clients pay you in 60 days, be sure to have money in your bank account to pay all expenses in the coming month, including your new employee and rent, but also yourself!

So many entrepreneurs forget to add their salary to their budget, telling me they will pay themselves when they get paid.

Planning helps you anticipate your financing needs… and removes considerable stress!

Investing in efficient systems and YOURSELF!

As business owners, we have so much to do. If you are starting, you probably do everything: preparing contracts for future clients, sending invoices, promoting your business on social media, and writing all the emails you want to send via your newsletter.

Putting the proper infrastructure in place is essential to helping your business grow. You must invest in suitable systems and look at all tasks that can be delegated as your business grows.

Investing in suitable systems is an investment that will pay off both short and long-term.

Look at your business and decide what you need to help you better manage your clients and time.

Which key things can you automate in your business so you can return to being the entrepreneur you set out to be?

A marketing system, also known as a lead generation system, will help you grow and manage your email list – I love to use Kajabi to manage all aspects of my marketing, such as list building and weekly newsletter.

Still you can also use MailChimp or Convertkit. An accounting system will help you with your budget and cash flow; I use SAGE, but many of my clients use Quickbooks! Let’s get started…

Remember that if you ever decide to sell the business, efficient systems will be essential to prove its value!

Now let’s talk about investing in Y-O-U-R-S-E-L-F!

The skills needed will differ as your business grows and the market changes. If you are looking for podcasts to listen to, books, magazines, or blogs to read, grab my 100+ Tools and Resources!

The best decision you can take is to recognize your limitations. Maybe taking an online course, hiring a coach, or even appointing someone else to help you with specific aspects of your business will be the best decision for your business.

Remember, effective leadership will help you make the most of the opportunities, creating sustainable growth for the future! Challenges are not always bad; some are favorable for you and your business.

As your business grows, you must look at the market and your competitors, invest in various systems to help you better manage your business, and connect the dots to be more efficient.

Keep learning as must as you can! Reading blogs or books and listening to podcasts can be part of your daily routine.

What about the challenges you are facing as your business is growing? Let’s talk about it because I’d love to learn how you manage challenges as a business owner.

xox