{"id":25809,"date":"2017-01-11T16:32:31","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T20:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?p=25809"},"modified":"2017-01-11T16:33:52","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T20:33:52","slug":"startup-ready-for-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by growth. The trouble is, scaling up your company too fast can be hugely problematic &#8211; and it could even see your business collapse. So, while having ambitions to grow is great in principle, you have to know you are ready for the change before you take action. Here are some of the things you need in place before making your move.<\/p>\n<h3>The right team<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/quickbooks.intuit.com\/r\/growing-your-business\/8-people-you-need-on-your-team-to-boost-growth\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-3.png\" alt=\"is-your-business-ready-to-grow-3\" width=\"730\" height=\"510\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25811 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 730px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 730\/510;\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>8 People You Need on Your Team to Boost Growth<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/growing-your-business-a-marketing-pro\/\">Business growth<\/a> tends to need serious funding, and it will often come from venture capital firms or private investors. Attracting these people is nothing short of critical, and one of the first things they will look at is the strength of your team. You will need strong leaders in place, with experience and highly qualified workers who all share the same vision for the company. And you will also have to bear in mind that if a face doesn\u2019t fit the investor\u2019s ideals, they may decide to bring in their own people. It\u2019s not just your employees and business partners that investors look at, either &#8211; it\u2019s also the suppliers, manufacturers and service providers. <\/p>\n<h3>The right infrastructure<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibmsystemsmag.com\/aix\/trends\/whatsnew\/IT-infrastructure-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-1.jpg\" alt=\"is-your-business-ready-to-grow-1\" width=\"528\" height=\"249\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25813 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 528px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 528\/249;\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>IBM Report: A Strong Infrastructure Strategy Improves Business Success<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Can all your current systems handle your growth? It\u2019s an important factor that you will have to get to grips with &#8211; earlier rather than later. As cloud provider <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tierpoint.com\/\">Tierpoint<\/a> point out, it is nothing short of essential that your business is using infrastructure services that can scale up with your business. IT systems, manufacturing facilities, even the amount of office space you have will all be questioned. Make sure that when you first choose a service &#8211; or location &#8211; you are considering the future growth that, hopefully, your company will experience. <\/p>\n<h3>The right customers<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.business.com\/customer-service\/10-tips-on-customer-success-that-can-help-skyrocket-your-business\/?page=6&#038;q=customers&#038;resultlist=mostRelevant\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-2.png\" alt=\"is-your-business-ready-to-grow-2\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25812 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-2.png 450w, https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-2-65x65.png 65w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 450px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 450\/450;\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>10 Customer Success Tips That Will Skyrocket Your Business<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Still struggling to find the right clients and customers for your business? If so, you aren\u2019t ready to grow yet. Scaling your business up at this stage will only lead to problems, and it certainly won\u2019t fix them. Focus on getting to a point when <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/article\/240625\">customers are coming to you<\/a>, and you have a sound foundation to work from. In fact, once you have these loyal clients in place, they can turn into assets, and help you facilitate your growth. Once you have people shouting about your products and services, you will find you are in a much stronger position to start scaling up.<\/p>\n<h3>The right lifestyle<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/quickbooks.intuit.com\/r\/growing-your-business\/how-to-know-when-its-time-to-grow-your-small-business\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4-1024x694.jpg\" alt=\"is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4\" width=\"1024\" height=\"694\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-25810 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4-1024x694.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4-768x521.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg 1280w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/694;\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>How to Know When It\u2019s Time to Grow Your Small Business<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Next, a quick point about your personal life. If you thought starting a business was tough, wait until you start growing it. You will need to be fully committed to building your business, and if your personal life isn\u2019t ready for it, there could b a lot of trouble waiting on the road ahead. Relationships will suffer, sacrifices must be made, and it can even impact your health. There are many cases of small business owners wishing they had never tried to scale, and kept things as they were &#8211; so make sure your personal life is ready for the challenge. <\/p>\n<p>Good luck with growing your business &#8211; let me know how you get on! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[359],"tags":[5891,5872,4803,988,277,4359,5611,5491,20,5052,533,6011,6019,3199,5901,5607,442,2750,2793,5879,115,5610],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, &amp; Creatives by Andy Sowards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/andysowardsfan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-11T20:32:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-11T20:33:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"868\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Sowards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@andysowards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@andysowards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Sowards\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/\",\"name\":\"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-11T20:32:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-11T20:33:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415\"},\"description\":\"As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":868},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, &amp; Creatives by Andy Sowards\",\"description\":\"Design Inspiration &amp; Business Resources for Creatives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415\",\"name\":\"Andy Sowards\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Andy Sowards\"},\"description\":\"Im a professional Freelancer specializing in Web Developer, Design, Programming web applications. Im an Avid member of the Design\/Development community and a Serial Blogger. follow me on Twitter @AndySowards\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?","description":"As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?","og_description":"As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by","og_url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/","og_site_name":"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, &amp; Creatives by Andy Sowards","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/andysowardsfan","article_published_time":"2017-01-11T20:32:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-11T20:33:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":868,"url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andy Sowards","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@andysowards","twitter_site":"@andysowards","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy Sowards","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/","url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/","name":"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg","datePublished":"2017-01-11T20:32:31+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-11T20:33:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415"},"description":"As a startup owner, getting your business idea out there and onto the marketplace will be the first thing on your mind, but it will be closely followed by","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Is-your-business-ready-to-grow-4.jpg","width":1280,"height":868},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2017\/startup-ready-for-growth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Your Startup Truly Ready For Growth?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/","name":"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, &amp; Creatives by Andy Sowards","description":"Design Inspiration &amp; Business Resources for Creatives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415","name":"Andy Sowards","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg","caption":"Andy Sowards"},"description":"Im a professional Freelancer specializing in Web Developer, Design, Programming web applications. Im an Avid member of the Design\/Development community and a Serial Blogger. follow me on Twitter @AndySowards","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.andysowards.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25809"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25809"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25832,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25809\/revisions\/25832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}