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When you’re starting a new small business, it’s natural to have grandiose dreams of growth. But are you actually prepared for that growth to actually happen?

As weird as it sounds, if you experience too much growth in too short a period of time, you could actually end up struggling considerably. But the good news is that there are strategies to ensure that things don’t get out of hand.

1. Establish Goals

You need to take the time to plan out mid-term and long-term goals. Planning is everything because you need to make sure you know where you are headed and what you are going to do when you get there.

Having goals will also help ensure that your entire team knows the plan so that they can work to get you where you want to be. Without having goals, you could experience rapid growth and not have any way of dealing with it.

2. Manage Finances

It’s important to have a good framework in place regarding your finances early on. This includes being able to manage your cash flow efficiently and having the proper financing in place. Having more money sounds great, but if you aren’t using it correctly, it can become problematic.

Be sure that you have a solid accounting department in place. Utilize the best software to keep track of your accounts receivables and accounts payables. You may also want to consider working with a third-party accounting firm to get the help that you need.

3. Hire the Right Team

You need to make sure you have the right team in place before you can tackle any growth goals head-on. Although you may be looking forward to growing, you don’t want to over-hire. You can always use temporary help until you are able to hire the right individuals.

As you hire new employees, it’s important to have the best policies and procedures in place. This includes training your employees so they know their role and how to help you with your growth.

As your staff grows, your insurance needs will also change. You may need to have worker’s compensation insurance, and it might be time to look at offering various benefits to your employees, including health and dental.

4. Assess and Scale Service

As your business grows, you also want to make sure that you are assessing and scaling your service as necessary. Whether it’s production or service output, you need to make sure you are capable of keeping up with the demand. This includes identifying whether you need new employees, new processes, or even need to invest in new technology.

If you fail to assess and scale services accordingly, rapid small business growth can end up being your downfall instead of the moment you have been waiting for.

5. Keep Customers Happy

You also need to remember that customer service should always be your top priority. It’s easy to forget that your customers come first when you are dealing with considerably more orders. However, the growth will only be temporary if you can’t provide good customer service.

Remember that your customers are what will sustain you. We also live in a world of social media, and one bad review can be detrimental to future business.

Ultimately, it comes down to planning. The more you plan and the more you talk to your employees about your plan, the easier it will be for you to deal with growth as it happens. Some things will need to change, but as long as you know what those things are before it happens, you will be ready for all of the growth, regardless of how fast it may occur.