5 Steps To Scale Your Business

4 min readJan 14, 2023

Written by Tammy Durden

Your business is growing but now what? You are elated that you are growing and have more business coming in but is it more than you can handle alone? Is it time to add a team to your business? I help entrepreneurs scale their businesses all the time. I walk them through several steps and methods to do this. I want to share 5 Steps to Scale Your Business with you today.

Step One: Are You Ready?

You should determine if you are ready for this. Ask yourself these questions to help you determine if you are ready.

Do you have what it takes to manage a team?
Are you able to delegate easily?
Do you have enough bandwidth (time) to train someone else in your processes & systems used?
Is Scaling right for you or should you look at other growth options?

Step Two: Prepare Your Processes

One of the ways you will set yourself up for success as you scale is to prepare your processes before you bring on any team members. This is crucial. You need to have something documented in order to be able to share this with new team members.

Yes, you can certainly train by video or Zoom sessions and I do recommend doing this at least a couple of times with new team members. However, it is more helpful, in the days to come, that they have a document they can follow as they become accustomed to the way you complete the tasks needed for your clients.

Step Three: Choose Character Over Skill

It is very important to choose character over skill.

“You can teach skill but it is very difficult to teach character.“
-Tammy

Yes, ask about skill but also keep in mind to choose someone who has character. I usually discuss integrity, honesty, respect, and morals. I also take into account how responsive they have been with me as we email in the beginning. These are important factors that often indicate how they will relate to you later.

Subcontractor Versus Employee

Hiring a subcontractor is what I recommend to clients. A subcontractor is much less expensive than hiring employees especially if you are just starting to grow and scale. Most of the time employees also require benefits. Benefits include health care, workers’ compensation, employer’s portion of social security, vacation pay, sick pay, and more.

Whereas a subcontractor is a business owner just like you. They are partnering with you to help your business. They must pay all of their own taxes and do not receive any benefits. Often, if you are bringing on a subcontractor to work with one of your clients then you can usually offer them a percentage of the overall package you are charging your client. I highly recommend this when possible.

Step Four: Use A Project Management System

Do you already use a project management system? If not, then this is the time to start. Setting up a project management system will help the workflow between you and the subcontractor as well as between the client.

Set up folders by the client and then sub-folders according to specific tasks you provide. Add team members who will work with that client. Add each team member to the sub-folder(s) or tasks that they will work on.

Step Five: Delegate Wisely

The final step in bringing on a team member is to delegate wisely. Initially give them a limited amount of work to do. If they complete the tasks well, in the way you and the client wanted, as well as on time, then add more work.

It is wise to test your new subcontractor’s skill and work ethic prior to giving them an entire client or project.

Summary

Five of the steps that can help you scale your business are:

Be Sure You Are Ready
Prepare and Document Your Processes
Chose Character Over Skill
Use A Project Management System
Delegate Wisely

Getting your business ready to scale prior to bringing them on is critical. Determining your readiness and then preparing your processes will put you ahead when it is time to bring on that team member.

If you need additional help or want someone to walk you step-by-step through the process of scaling your business simply click on our ‘contact‘ page.