That Escalated Quickly

What if it really goes well?

I often ask this question. If your new business, or your new project, really takes off, are you going to be able to cope with the success?

Imagine that it all works. Your market efforts, your sales, your product all come together beautifully, better than you dared hope. Having been locked in those preparatory stages, are you ready?

Here are a few things you could consider:

1. Cash flow. Will the inflow of orders require cash for fulfilment, and is that cash line in place?

2. People. What kind of people will I need for fulfilment, and where shall I get them?

3. Space. This may be office space, warehouse space, or production space, but business often needs lots of it!

4. Administrative support. The enlarged business may need more telephone answering, more invoicing and more customer service support?

5. Profitability. Is this new, enlarged, business, making more profit than the old, smaller one?

6. You. Can you handle being in charge of a bigger operation, or do you need to get some help? It is worth having plans in place, or, to look at matters another way, to understand your capacity.

7. Processes - you might not need much in the way of processes today, but what if your number of transactions goes up by a factor 10?

   I was once involved in a retail business that took a part on an exciting new product. I worked. In one day they sold more than they would normally handle in a month. Thankfully, they had planned for this.

I hope this all becomes an issue in your business venture soon!