The goal of any business – small or otherwise – is to grow, but growth can bring with it unexpected headaches.
Say you’re going from a single location to multiple locations; all of a sudden, everything you could manage easily by yourself becomes spread out and complicated. More equipment and employees. Multiple buildings and locations. And no easy way to tie it all together or manage it all.
First of all, understand that expansion comes with challenges: You have less oversight, less control, less interaction, less communication, less cohesion and less time. Kind of makes you long for the days of one small shop where everything was all in one place.
But don’t despair. Start by hiring the right managers who not only can oversee the new location, but also understand how their operation fits into the bigger picture. Establish clear reporting lines and processes, and give everyone a common vision and goal to strive for.
Done right, with a little tolerance for mistakes and learning curves, expansion can be fun.
Adapted from How to Avoid the Perils of Small Business Expansion by Rob Sabo at Small Business Computing.