More than half of all new companies go belly up within the first year of operation due to mismanagement, the inability to plan far in advance, and a lack of financing. Business growth is essential for success, and without the necessary factors in place, entrepreneurs will continue to struggle.

Increasing efficiency and productivity

Increasing productivity and efficiency can be achieved in a number of ways. Taking advantages of cloud-based services will save money on IT services and tracking projects, as well as saving time on meetings because team collaboration can be accessed from anywhere. There are also mobile apps and inexpensive subscription services to help automate everything from project management to accounting, and even shipping and receivables. By implementing these things, your company will be saving money and freeing up time that you and your employees can use to focus on business growth and and meeting long-term project goals.

Renting office space

Many business owners feel that the only way to have control over business growth – or to expand on their own terms – is to purchase office space. This makes sense, in theory, but logistically, it can actually prevent business growth. By purchasing office space, resources and staff (read: money) need to be dedicated to cleaning and maintaining the office or facility. By renting space in a managed office building, the property management company will take care of any cleaning and maintenance that needs to be done on a regular basis, thereby saving your company money that can be put towards business growth. When your operation needs to expand, you can rent out another floor in the office building, or work with property management to see if they control any larger facilities that would suit your needs.

Detailed accounting

Depending on the size of the company, business owners often take it upon themselves to manage all of the accounting, or they meet with a CPA once or twice a month. This is a great way to keep the cost of accounting down, but it also negatively impacts productivity, and prevents business growth. First, accounting is something that should be done daily, which makes infrequent visits to a CPA counterproductive. Second, there are only so many hours in a day, so business owners that take on accounting themselves are more prone to making mistakes while trying to juggle all of the other aspects of running a business. Outsourcing to a bookkeeping service is a great way to stay on top of accounting, automate operations, and check financials at a glance to see if the company is poised for business growth.

Ultimately, running a business comes down to numbers. When revenues are high and expenses are low, then a company can enjoy the rewards of business growth. By taking measures to increase productivity, efficiency, and automation, while decreasing expenses and wasted resources, opportunities for business growth will be right around the corner.