Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur nowadays, and with good reason. You get to be your own boss, master of your fat, captain of your destiny. You and only you gets to be in charge. How much money you make, the amount of success you see, your hours, your schedules, it’s all under your control. There is a thirst, a hunger that is behind every entrepreneur’s success story. It’s quite natural that this first will continue to stay with you. And after a time, you will either try to settle down, or you will want to expand.

There comes a point in every start-up's life where it begins expanding. This might be expanding your team of five people, and growing your business, making room for twenty more. Or, this might mean having your two departments expand into ten, getting another office, starting up a franchise. No matter which one of these situations sticks to you, you need to approach it intelligently if you want to succeed. This is where we come in.

The article found below will help you expand your start-up competently, efficiently, minimal hassle, minimal work. You will get to strengthen your brand, expand, and, of course, make more money. Some of the advice below are core things that you might have heard of, but that you also need to be a bit more through about. Other pieces of advice are unorthodox or are sadly not taken seriously. Whatever that case may be, we are certain you will find something that will help you out.

Analytics and systems are key

Today the most valuable resource is not oil, or money, or anything of that nature. No, the most valuable commodity today is data. Free information, data, analytics, these are things you need to have under your belt, it needs to “stockpiled” and controlled if you want to achieve success. You, as a start-up owner, should definitely be aware of this point. Information is your leverage, and your guiding map, it’s the start you use to steer your ship, and it is the vital resource that keeps you safe, but also keeps you making money.

Gathering continual data on who buys your products and hires your services, when do they do so, how often, at what times, the age, educational levels, complete demographic data – this is all needed if you want to succeed. Furthermore, data helps you keep an eye on your sales rates, on your marketing success. Google Analytics, for example, allows you to get a grip on how much success you are getting with your website, blogs, and ads.

This kind of information gathering, this focus on data and tech means that when you decide to expand, you will know where to strike first. Lots of data mean knowing where you are vulnerable, and where you are strong. It helps you understand what to avoid, and what to focus on. More information means not going in blind, but actually having a clear understanding of how you are expanding, and how much success you are having with said expansion.

Get out of your comfort zone

With all this talk of data gathering, you shouldn’t look at things from a place of passivity. Quite the opposite. Expanding means stepping into the unknown, moving forward and hoping you will succeed, trusting yourself, your people, your knowledge, and your industry that you can achieve some success. IN other words, risks are completely expected and mandatory – playing it safe means procrastinating and stalling. That doesn’t, however, mean you should be reckless.

Namely, you can’t expand without risk, you need to get out of your comfort zone. Of course, you need a strong plan, you need lots of data, a boatload of information, proper security assessments, some safety nets, all need to be ready in case you fail. Going all out and risking bankruptcy is not doing business intelligently. Expanding and building your brand is one thing, gambling your life away is another. 

Namely, you need to strike a good balance between risk and safety. Getting out of your comfort zone is a must – you can’t really grow unless you do so. New areas, new markets, new strategies, if you feel pretty close to how you felt when you first started doing business, then you are on the right track. Just think about it – you did it once before, why not try again?

Invest in your people, not just things

Next, you should understand that what you really and truly need to invest in aren’t only things. Good tech, brand new equipment, excellent software solutions, fine facilities, and high-level resources are of course useful. These are things that are very useful, that help you get the job done. However, the most important part of your company, the core lifeblood is, of course, your employees.

Namely, if you want to expand properly, you need to prepare your company. And in order to prepare your company, you need to prepare your employees. They need to be trained in general regularly anyway. However, this expansion might require that you put in some extra hours and really get things going. You want to get them as much training and as many seminars dedicated to their new or expanded duties as you can. If you want to have a successful expansion, you want people who can handle it.

Furthermore, you also need to allow them some rest. Don’t push them too hard, even the most ambitious people have breaking points and a need to rest. So unless you want to end up with paying out stress leave compensation fines, fees, and lawyers, you should find a way for people to blow off some steam. If needed, forbid certain hard-core getters from burning themselves out – don’t let them do any extra hours more than they have to. And of course, get some team-building exercises going, keep your rec room stocked and your coffee pots full. 

Be prepared for anything

There are two reasons that you need to have plans B, C, D, E, and all the way to Z. First of all, the obvious reason is that you want this expansion to either be a successor to at least stay away from bankruptcy. However, the other reason is just as important. Namely, it helps you push through.

Expansions are scary. They are expensive, difficult, they take up long hours, and it’s like you’re starting all over again. It’s pretty common and pretty easy for people to chicken out, to stutter and stop right before they are supposed to jump. But, if you know you have certain safety nets in place, you know you can survive them, and thrive. 

Now, on a practical level, this means always having a nest egg or two ready for you. Have some money saved up, and have a plan to bounce back if you truly do have to file for bankruptcy. However, you should also consider the cost of success even more. How will your life look like if the expansion is a complete success? How will you deal with extra work, larger markets, more offices, and a stronger and bigger team? What will you do with all the extra money you make? You need to think things through, both the positive and the negative.

It’s all about your brand

Finally, remember to keep your brand in line with your expansion. You need to maintain your image as much as you can, while also letting it grow and evolve. Whatever rapport you made with your customers and clients, you want to keep it, and then later build on it, improve it. An expansion means you will grow larger, and growth automatically means change. You can let your past image hinder you, you shouldn’t be hamstrung by your previous identity, but you also shouldn’t lose the valued patronage you already have.

So, be ready. Prepare your social media, your website, advertisements, everything. Think about how things will change, if at all, and be ready to initiate updates at a moment’s notice. Maybe that’s all you need – a simple update to your Facebook page. Or maybe you need to revamp your entire marketing strategy. Understand that this isn’t just a matter of advertising, but also a matter of maintaining your reputation. 

Conclusion

If you want to power up your tech start-up and expand, you need to be smart. We understand how attractive this idea is, and how important it is to you to get that adrenaline going, how crucial it is to continue growing. However, you need to plan things out properly. Your brand needs to keep your old loyal customers, all the while maintaining new networks, being ready for new fields and expansions. Remember to constantly invest in your employees, keep them trained and sharp. You want them to be ready for your expansion, to deal with new tasks, and roles. Remember to have backup plans and safety nets in place at all times. Finally, have a plan not only for failure but for success as well.