Business Growth

Recently I read about building different business models. On this site there is a section about business, if you are interested, you can find. There are many useful tips. There are many different headings, I sometimes read until midnight, I can not tear myself away

Short answer is yes. Long answer is that creating and refining these systems and processes is never ending as your business constantly grows and changes. Often you don't know what you need until you get there - usual life story.

In hindsight it is best to set these up as though you are lot bigger than you currently are rather than simply helping with solving your immediate requirements.

From a delivery point of view, using drone for delivery will provide better security so that you don't have to be home to receive the delivery.  Currently you need to be at home or office to sign for delivery of parcels because leaving parcels in front of the house or unit is not safe as it can get taken or stolen by other people but if drone is delivering the parcel, the drone operator can leave the parcel in a more secure location such as the backyard of the house, or in the balcony in a case of apartment.  This would save time for everyone involved in the process of delivery.  No driving to post office or depot for the receiver and no repeat delivery for the courier.

Great question Todd. Love to hear from members of the SavvySME community on how they are seeing their business growing in 2013 and what challenges and opportunities they are faced with.

That depends on the definition on "critical mass" :)

I'll say the growth of OzBargain has been pretty linear for the first few years. I guess there are some milestones.

• First million page view month: Sept 2008 (2 years after launch)
• First million sessions month: July 2009 (2 3/4 years after launch)

By looking at the traffic graph (from Google Analytics), I see a pretty flat line with some dips (Jan/Feb slow season). One significant event was at the beginning of 2011 when I go full time working on OzBargain. No, the traffic didn't shoot up (angle of the slope stays the same) but that just means I was more serious about growing it.

Looking back I realise that we are more "reactive" (adding resources when we have to) than proactive, but that's just me more used to slow and steady approach.

When you start a domestic cleaning business, it's likely you'll do much of the cleaning work yourself, with the opportunity to hire experienced and skilled cleaners and take a step-back later on. Having the state-fo art cleaning equipment is the best way for you to gather some new, repeat customers. You can always count on your friends aand relatives to suggest your cleaning to business to their colleagues at work, and, suddenly, you have a lot more jobs to do. 

When you are content with the amount of time vs financial gain that you return.
In my case, it's using the profit to buy assets that give me a passive income. 
This in turn gives you choice. 

 

I have to respectfully disagree with Roland. Firstly, not turning a profit when the business reinvests to allow growth is the way many businesses secure their future. And, suggesting that Amazon (or Google, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Tesla etc) was a hobby, or in any way wasn't a business until it turned a profit is incredibly naive. Any market changer, innovator, research company or business developing hardware will have a long period before turning a profit, while operating very much as a business.

To answer the question though, it depends on the type of business, its present financial position and the state of the market. I agree with Roland that the key is margin, but there is rather more to it. Revenue, and cashflow, is king - it is what allows a business the means to keep running. At the end of the day, there isn't much point making huge margin on each sale, if you have to lay off all your staff between projects.

If you are in a product business then marketshare is vital. Your revenue streams may be from customers other than those who are actually the end user of your product. This means you need marketshare, to be growing, and to be keeping your product current. It's actually the same for service businesses.

If you want your business to do more than sustain itself at its current level, you need to grow. The right time to do so will be when you have cashflow and resources within your team to invest in it - or if your business is just starting out, for as long as you can sustain the growth phase.

Businesses come in many shapes, sizes and make ups. If you want your business to grow and are able to invest your "margin" to do that in lieu of turning a profit then do so - you know your business, your customers, and what your team can do!

Customers, or users, are the new profit to many modern businesses. Strong market position means your business can face the future, and when it comes time to turn a profit it will likely be much bigger than focussing on taking whatever you can at the start.