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How to create a scalable company

By John Graziano, CPA, PFS, CFP®.

Building a scalable business allows you to grow a business with less friction along the way. Plus, when you focus on scaling, you empower your business by making it agile and competitive. If you want to introduce new advisory services or venture into another specialty in the future, you should they can do it more easily, thanks to following a scalable model.

Why make a scalable company?

If you are satisfied with a small company or do not intend to scale in the near future, you need to know why a scalable company is good for your business. Creating a company that can scale means:

  1. It is easier to diversify into new specialties or markets.
  2. More agility to attract new customers
  3. Easier to sell the company.
  4. Fewer headaches for you, team members and customers

When you make scalability a top priority for your business, you’re using technology and processes that enable you to succeed. Also, if you ever decide you want to sell the business, the time you spend scaling will often make the sale quicker and easier.

4 tips to create a scalable company

now that you understand why making a company scalable is important, it’s time to start the process. Some tips that will go a long way include:

1. Standardize your workflow

Business owners who are hands-on often have all of their processes and workflows in their heads. However, if you go on vacation, take a step away from the business, or become incapacitated for any reason, your business will have a hard time operating.

Scaling should start with standardizing your entire workflow and documenting everything.

You must have standard processes for:

  • Customer Onboarding
  • Communicate with customers
  • termination
  • Every task you do

For an entire week, document everything you do. You may even want to record your screen, make audio notes, and provide written instructions.

The objective is that when someone assumes a position in the company, they have Standard Operating Procedures that they can follow.

Cousin: If you ever sell the business, these standardized procedures will allow for a smooth transition to new owners.

2. Check and update your technology

When was the last time you reviewed and updated your technology? Internal and customer-facing technology should help everyone work more efficiently and effectively. One study found that more than 60% of large companies use technology to boost employee morale and engagement.

Therefore, it is evident that you should concentrate on:

  • Internal technology that allows easy collaboration and communication.
  • Customer-facing technology that can automate tasks like reminding customers to send important documents or even pay their bills.

Investing in technology to speed workflow, reduce errors, and improve the customer experience comes at an upfront cost. However, the technology will also save you money in the long run and allow you to automate tasks, freeing up time for your staff to focus on more important tasks.

3. Partner with other companies

A recent survey found that 54% of companies believe accountants need advisory skills. Advisory services are a growing market and it is very likely that some of your clients will benefit from these additional services if you are not already providing them.

For example, let’s say you want to offer financial planning to your clients, and this is a service you’re sure they’ll need.

You can partner with a reputable company that will offer these services to their clients, and you will not bear the burden of:

  • hiring new people
  • Management of larger teams

Instead, your partner will take care of the logistics. In the meantime, he has created a new source of income for his company.

4. Delegate tasks

In the early stages of their business’s existence, it’s not uncommon for owners to take on multiple roles to help run the business. However, if you’ve made it to this tip, you already have your standard operating procedures in place.

Now one of the hardest things to do to climb is delegate.

You need to learn to let go and allow others to do critical tasks. When you delegate tasks, you’re freeing up time so you can focus on core tasks that can help your business grow. Delegating can be difficult for practical owners, but you’ll want to keep in mind that you can still perform the tasks you love.

But you can also reduce your workload by offloading some tasks to your team.

Start slow, delegate tasks and monitor the team’s progress. Eventually, you’ll find that you have time to scale your business because you’re not doing everything.

Scaling is something that should be on every business owner’s mind. When you have a company focused on scaling, you will adapt to customer needs and industry demands. faster and better meet your needs now and in the future.

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John Graziano, CPA, PFS, CFP® is President of FFP Wealth Management, a financial planning and management firm. He also actively advises over 80 CPA firms across the country.

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