Frederick Jace
Growing your business quickly requires a number of different factors to pull off, but arguably the least considered is the size of your workforce.
This is because rapid growth requires, above all, flexibility. You need to be able to adapt quickly, make instantaneous decisions and take your business in a new direction at a moment’s notice.
The reason for this is that growth is all about seizing opportunities and momentum, both of which create the necessary dynamism that spurs your company on to new heights.
However, if you are lumbered with a large workforce, you may not be able to adapt to new business opportunities or completely overhaul your internal infrastructure because people are relying on you and cannot simply be tossed aside.
Naturally, you can’t go without a team because then there would be no one to deliver services, attract clients or help your business to function. If you are trying to grow (and therefore find more customers), it can be almost impossible to avoid expanding your workforce.
However, it can be done, which is why you need to know how to grow your company without needing more employees:
Invest in a vCIO who can handle your IT
One of the most fundamental ways you can grow your company without requiring a larger workforce is to outsource your workload to individuals or teams outside of your company.
For instance, you will no doubt have to assign someone to manage your IT department; otherwise, you could face a number of security, productivity, and delivery issues – especially if you are growing quickly.
Instead of hiring a full-time IT manager to handle this task, you could instead find a virtual chief information officer (vCIO for short) to tackle it instead.
As the name suggests, a vCIO works remotely as a consultant, which provides you with the necessary manpower without having to commit to a binding contract with a full-time employee.
Incorporate remote working practices
A particularly challenging aspect of having a workforce is that you need to place them in an office somewhere.
This forces you to take on an added level of responsibility because your employees will need to house themselves locally, make personal decisions off the back of it (such as placing their children in nearby schools), and require the security of a stable work environment.
If you are trying to grow quickly, then this level of concrete responsibility could stifle your creativity and flexibility.
Instead of housing your workforce in an on-site location, it may be best instead to encourage remote working, which cuts out the need for you to base your business in a single location.
When you embrace remote working, you can handpick freelancers from around the world, making use of the best talent available, rather than only those who are in the local area.
Collaborate with another business
Another way to grow your company without needing a larger workforce is to join forces with another business.
While this sounds unusual, joint ventures are actually remarkably common. They allow you to pool resources – whether equipment, customers, products, or employees – in order to grow faster.
By doing this, you can make use of resources that you would usually need a larger workforce and more solid infrastructure to acquire.
