If you have been running a small business from the comfort of your own home for the last few years and it has seen some great success, you may have decided that now is the time for you to take your business to the next level.
The issue you may be facing is that taking a leap such as this is far from an easy one, and you are going to need as much help as you can get along the way on this challenging journey.
In this post, we are going to be looking at some of the fundamental considerations you are going to need to make when taking your small business to the next level. Some of our suggestions may seem simple, and others may seem pedantic, but you must remember, it’s these things that will strengthen your business in the long term and ultimately define your success.
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Why Change?
One of the most important things you can do as a small business is to set your ambitions high. Of course, there are some smaller businesses out there that are more than happy to stay as they are and continue to work from home.
If you have always dreamed a little bigger than that, and if you feel it’s viable, then go ahead and take the leap of faith into something bigger. There are things you will need to consider as you go along your way, but providing you take our advice in the later sections, you may see your business become a profitable one.
While there are many people out there that think small home businesses don’t grow into anything, they should realize that pretty much every successful empire on the planet started in the same way. Whether it’s Apple or Amazon, they all began in one small room, and over time aspiration took over, and they became huge.
Find A Location
The first thing you will need to look at if you are looking at expanding your operations is where you are going to work from. If this is something you have already considered, then the chances are that you have been looking at offices both big and small local to you and found that they are more expensive than you may have thought.
What you may not have also taken into account is that you will need to add on some rates to the rental of your office and then your phone line and internet. When you add all of these things up, they really make a figure that can be scary.
So, what’s the answer to this? Well, it’s actually quite a simple one. Why don’t you take a look at shared office solutions? Sharing a complex is an amazing way forward, and it’s the most logical step if you are just taking your business out into the world.
Shared complexes generally have a flat rate charge that will include all bills, and you will have all the room you need. More than this, you will find that the atmosphere in these buildings is a brilliant one to get your business off to the best possible start.
Find A Team
As your business has found its feet, it may have now found a need for an extra employee or two. Now you have your office ready to go, bringing somebody in as an employee can be one of the best things you can do to boost your business.
Hiring staff is the only way you are going to be able to extend your operation in the early days without putting too much strain on yourself and eventually dealing with burnout. While hiring your first employee may be an exciting time, there is so much you are going to need to consider during the process, and it’s imperative that you do it properly.
In the early stages, you should be putting together an interview that will help you work out the strongest candidates as quickly as possible. For most employers, this will often be all they do before hiring, but as this is your first rodeo, you should be taking greater care than this.
While it may be a more costly thing initially, you should be running background checks, asking for three references, and also contacting companies like coal board medical to run pre-employment checks.
While this may seem a little extreme, this will give you the best possible insight into the person you are hiring, and it will also let you know that you are making the right decision. The last thing you will need to do as a part of the hiring process is to do with your employment contracts.
Most employers fail to recognize the importance of a good employment contract, so let us make things very clear from the start. The employment contract is there to protect the employer more than the employee.
Not only should you have your contract template drawn up by somebody with legal knowledge, but you should also ask somebody with employment law qualifications to give it the once over and ensure that it’s watertight.
We are aware that we may have made things sound a little daunting, but the truth is, taking your business to a brand new level is going to produce many challenges. The good thing is that once you have put a few months into the detail of getting this part of your business right, you will soon be on your way to amazing things.
Hopefully, you will take on both of the pieces of advice we have furnished you with today and use them as part of your growth strategy. You can use these as your starting point, and when you move on from here, things will start to flow naturally, before you know it, your big city business will be in full swing.
*This is a collaborative post*
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