By Matt Manero
Please don’t misunderstand me, scaling your business is not a quick and easy process, but it is vital for one primary reason. “What you can’t control can kill your business and your financial success” A bigger business with more revenue helps you mitigate this risk.
It took me 20 years to grow my businesses and get economy of scale on my side. Why? because I didn’t understand the importance of it. I thought we were doing fine, and in 2009/2010 my businesses got whacked. We survived, but I vowed that I was going to grow the revenue of my businesses to a scale that would allow us to minimize the impact of external factors that I couldn’t control. So scale up we did, and in 2014 and 2015 we earned the Inc. Magazine Top 500/5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America Award and the SMU Dallas 100 Fastest Growing Companies in North Texas. Growing our businesses has made all the difference and launched us out of the “pain” side of small business and into the “pleasure” side. I want the same for you.
Get serious and scale your business, because, staying small is just too dangerous in today’s fast moving, clouded and crowded marketplace.
Here are my 5 simple tips on how to prepare for your growth.
1. BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID: You don’t know what come down the pipe that could hurt your small business. Legislation, regulation, competition, and taxes are just a few, and the impact of them can be expensive. Don’t let uncontrollable changes kill your business. Grow to a scale that generates enough free cash flow to be able to deal with these changes and keep your business thriving.
2. You Must Know Who You Are: Company culture means everything to me. It creates clarity, a common thread for you to lead, hire and motivate your team. It also allows you to create a clear message to your customers and the marketplace. Spend time (a lot of time) understanding what you and your company is good at and then DO MORE OF IT!
3. Systems and Technology are vital to scale: You need create systems that have been battle tested to be able to scale. Make sure your procedures in ordering, shipping, documentation, human resources and accounting are tight.
4. You are now a sales organization: I really don’t care what business you are in…if you want to scale, you need to understand the importance of selling. Everyone in your organization is a salesperson. Once you have determined who you are, what you are good at and that your systems and technology are solid – sell the hell out of them!
5. Mine your Acres of Diamonds: Your existing customers and relationships are your acres of diamonds. They like and trust you, and most want to give you more business. WE JUST DON’T ASK THEM FOR MORE BUSINESS! “If we did this…how much more business could we enjoy from you?” is a wonderful question. A majority of the time, your customers have more marketshare available for you. GO GET IT!
Growth and scale matter. 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 90% fail in the first 5 years. Commit today to not becoming a statistic. Be a great business!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Matt Manero is the founder and president of Commercial Fleet Financing, Inc. (CFF) based in Dallas, Texas. CFF is celebrating its 20th year in business and provides financing for commercial fleet vehicles such as box trucks, cargo vans, big rigs, tow trucks, dump trucks and construction equipment. With annual fundings of over $100 million per year, CFF is the proud recipient of the 2014 and 2015 Inc. 500/5000 fastest-growing private companies in America. Manero is also the author of “The Grit” book and hosts a weekly small business show entitled “The Grit” on his online digital network, www.cffnation.com. For more information, visit http://www.cffantionwide.com, www.cffnation.com, www.mattmanero.com @mattmanero or call (972) 247-8447.