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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Scale for Success summary
Jan Cavelle
Expert Insights into Growing Your Business
17 mins
Table of Contents
Scale for Success
summarized in 6 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 6
Preparation is essential for successful scaling.
Scaling isn’t easy. After all, growing your business isn’t just a case of doing more of the same – and it certainly isn’t something you can leave unplanned.
Bev Hurley, the CEO of the YTKO Group since 2000, learned that the hard way. In a matter of weeks, the firm doubled in size, going from 20 to 40 employees in the blink of an eye.
While this growth seemed like a sign of success, in reality, YTKO was having problems. The firm’s sudden expansion hadn’t been properly planned for, and YTKO lacked the HR processes, tech infrastructure, and training procedures needed to deal with its growth.
The key message here is: Preparation is essential for successful scaling.
Thankfully, Bev Hurley learned from her mistakes. A year later, the firm doubled in size again, going from 40 to 80 employees. But this time, things went a lot more smoothly: Hurley made sure that the groundwork for growth was laid before the expansion began. This time YTKO was prepared.
So how do you know whether or not you’re ready to scale? Well, you can test your preparedness simply by exercising your imagination. Imagine that you were to receive a whole year’s turnover tomorrow – how would you scale for that? Where would your gaps and weaknesses lie, and how would you deal with them?
One example is that many firms lack the working capital they need to scale. But working capital, the capital available to a company for day-to-day expenses, is vital when scaling. Recruitment can prove costly, as can bigger locations, and more stock and salaries. Take a minute and ask yourself whether you could raise the capital to fund these things, or whether your expansion would quickly leave you cash-strapped.
As important as working capital is, it’s still just one consideration among many. It’s also paramount that you have a reliable senior team in place before you start to scale. Having even two or three established employees alongside you, who you know you can trust absolutely, can make a world of difference when it comes to scaling your business.
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What is Scale for Success about?
Scale for Success (2021) is a guide to turning your small business into a far bigger and more successful enterprise than it is today. From crowdfunding to job descriptions, it covers the ins and outs – and highs and lows – of scaling up any firm.
Who should read Scale for Success?
- Entrepreneurs trying to break into the big league
- Anyone working at a small business or early-stage start-up
- Veteran businesspeople interested in mentoring small business owners
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