#WOCinTech Chat
It can be incredibly difficult trying to cope with a growing brand especially if you never had plans in the first place to expand. Perhaps you’re getting more orders than you can cope with or perhaps your IT systems just don’t allow for so many customers to be processed at once. Sadly, unless you don’t feel like capitalizing on your success, you’re going to have to shape up and speed up the growth of your business as well as your personal management skills if you want to survive.
The worst thing a business can do is refuse to expand and be taken over by another startup that is willing to grow for the sake of themselves as well as providing a steady stream of products to paying customers. However, growing a business when you have so much success isn’t difficult, it just takes time, dedication and some loyal staff members.
Your members of staff are going to be the core component in your business that determines if you will be able to handle the increased demand or not. However, it’s important that you don’t look for someone who is bouncing between jobs or someone that already has plenty of experience. Contrary to popular belief, qualifications and experience don’t make for a good employee. What does determine if an employee is good for your business is their willingness to grow alongside you and the promise they show. It’s their character which should determine if they are the right fit for your business and not so much what a sheet of paper says about them.
By using a new hire checklist, you can skip most of the basics when it comes to recruiting an employee and focus on the important things, such as their dreams, what they expect from the company, and the likelihood of them staying at your company. The last thing you want is for an employee to join your company and then leave a couple months down the line to search for greener pastures. By offering your employees a career and not just a job, you effectively give them a good reason to stick with you and trust in your business.
If you are providing your customers with a product that has to be manufactured, then consider if you want to take that production into your own hands. It’s a big decision, however, because running a factory isn’t simple nor is it cheap. You’ll have to invest a lot of money into building or refurbishing a factory, and then there are ridiculous costs involved in having the correct machinery and staffing it with professionals.
There is a mid-point however. Instead of completely outsourcing your production to another company, there are compromises you can make. For instance, you can create templates of a product, such as a mousepad or toys, and hire in-house designers and workers to finish the designs. You won’t be outsourcing the entire thing, just part of it which will give you some control over the design and reduce the overall costs of manufacturing something in bulk.
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