Maintaining quality while managing business growth is a responsibility that every business owner needs to live up to.
To most entrepreneurs, this is a huge challenge. When their business starts increasing in size, revenue and target market, it becomes harder to oversee every operational process. However, this challenge can be overcome by putting some strategies in place.
That is what this post will entail- A look at the strategies you can integrate into your business to maintain quality during growth.
Therefore, at the end of this post, you should be conversant with what it means to manage business growth, what quality is in business and top strategies to help you balance the both.
What is managing growth in business?
Managing growth is the ability of a business owner to oversee the whole operational process from planning to optimizing its operations to achieve its goals.
Managing growth is important to every entrepreneur, as it helps to ensure long-term sustainability while increasing profits, expanding market reach and meeting up with customer needs and preferences.
It also helps to ensure that the growth aligns with the company’s goals and objectives every step of the way.
What does quality mean in business?
Quality is generally seen as the degree of excellence of something. Another word for quality is standard.
In business, quality means the degree of excellence of a product or service. It can also be seen as the ability of a product/service to meet the needs, requirements and expectations of customers.
A business that offers quality products to its customers stands a chance to build a community of loyal customers and attract new customers, too.
How do you maintain quality during business growth? Let’s find out.
Top strategies to maintain quality while managing business growth
1, Create a detailed SOP
An SOP, also known as a standard operating procedure, is a set of instructions compiled by an organization to help employees perform tasks with clarity, precision and efficiency. This is created to ensure that workers comply with industry regulations and standards.
As a growing business, a detailed SOP stands as a foundational guide for you, your employees and new hires. It helps a business to stay grounded and perform tasks with the same precision and efficiency as always.
2. Hire the right people
The right people are those individuals who possess the necessary hard and soft skills needed by a business owner.
From entry-level staff to managerial staff, hire individuals who align with your company’s vision, mission and goals. Hiring employees who are dedicated, and committed to the company’s internal culture makes it easier to maintain quality while driving business growth.
3. Invest in Quality Control
Quality control (QC) is a process that ensures that products or services meet a certain requirement or standard. This includes monitoring processes from raw materials to finished goods.
Introduce quality control systems and continually assess product or service standards. Conduct regular audits and customer feedback to ensure that quality remains consistent.
4. Invest in employee trainings
Empower your employees, especially department heads, to ensure they can handle day-to-day operations efficiently.
Invest in seminars, workshops and courses to equip them with roles and responsibilities needed to maintain quality at every level.
5. Leverage your customer feedback
A customer-centric approach is necessary during business growth. As your business expands, it becomes harder to maintain the same level of direct interaction with your customers. Therefore, utilize feedback mechanisms like surveys and social media interaction to gather insights about your product or service quality. This feedback helps you to understand areas for improvement.
6. Monitor and analyze key performance indicators (KPI’s)
Key performance indicators (KPI’s) are metrics that businesses use to evaluate their progress or performance against a set of targets or objectives.
To strike a balance between managing business growth and maintaining quality, you need to track metrics that are tied to your product quality.
What are your customers saying about your products on social media?
Is your sales rate going up or coming down?
Are you losing or gaining more customers?
Are your employees dedicated to ensuring business growth and quality?
By analyzing your set KPI’s regularly, you can identify issues early on, making it easy to adjust before your quality is affected. As your business continues to grow, these key metrics will continuously provide insights into where adjustments need to be made.
7. Invest in technology for automations
Utilizing technology and automation tools during growth is a necessity. Invest in software and automation tools such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, product management tools and email marketing software to streamline operations, monitor quality control, reduce human error and automate repetitive tasks.
Investing in technology helps to enhance efficiency for business growth.
8. Understand and manage customer expectations
Understand what your customers expect from your business. Utilize the feedbacks gotten through emails and social media. Communicate with your customers and let them be a part of the growth journey.
Manage their expectations by letting them know your business is undergoing growth and effectively communicate any changes it would cause especially to your delivery. Customers who are made to feel valued will stick with your business.
9. Create a detailed financial plan
Managing business growth while maintaining quality wouldn’t be complete without a clear financial plan. Ensure that you have a detailed budget that allocates funds to both growth initiatives and quality assurance. This includes sectors such as investment, quality control, hiring and technology.
A detailed financial plan minimizes overspending and maintains a positive cash flow for a business even during growth. Additionally, resource allocation helps you scale efficiently without compromising quality.
10. Stick to your business values
Never compromise on your core business values. Set standards in your business from the beginning and stick to them no matter how big you get. Whether its efficient product delivery, great customer service or ethical practices, staying true to these values during expansion ensures that your business maintains its quality.
Additionally, make quality a part of your company’s culture from the get-go.
Conclusion-Managing business growth
Managing business growth while maintaining quality has often seen like a challenge to most entrepreneurs.
However, finding a balance is possible with the right approach and strategies. This includes creating SOP’s that help you set a standard for your business, hiring and investing in your employees, investing in quality control and paying attention to customer feedback.
Quality isn’t just about the product or service, its about delivering excellent products alongside exceptional experience for your customers.
Implementing the strategies in this post will help you maintain sustainable growth and quality, which is necessary for long-term success.
