Managing a rapidly scaling business is a challenge. To face it, you need the right tools. In this article, dedicated to owners of such businesses, we will be listing SaaS solutions that can aid you. Keep in mind, we won’t be naming specific platforms as they will differ based on your requirements.
While sustainable growth is certainly a recommendation, sometimes it comes through a little too late. And sometimes, you have no choice but to scale your business fast. Whatever the circumstances are, while rapid scaling brings a plethora of challenges, it can still be managed and maintained. Alas, you will need the right tools for it. Or rather a well-linked together, centralised toolbox. However, given how much software there is on the market, how do you decide what exactly goes into it?
While we won’t be naming any specific tools in this article as different businesses will require different platforms. However, we will give you a general idea of what tools are helpful when you either try to scale fast and not hit the wall or trying to stay on top of things when you’re already mid fast-paced growth.
Essential Tools For Scaling Your Business
In case you don’t have the time to read the full article, here’s the list of tools every rapidly scaling business needs:
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A collaboration platform;
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A document sharing platform;
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A holiday management system;
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An expense management system;
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An invoice automation tool;
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A CRM system
There are many tools that incorporate a couple of these within one solution. Yu can always get them as separate solutions too. Then, however, you will need to ensure they integrate with one another to put them into a centralised toolbox.
Software for Internal Operations
Your success when managing a rapidly scaling business heavily relies on how well put together your team is. This is why the core of your strategy should be internal, no matter how client-focused you are. Simply put, without your teams you wouldn’t even have clients.
Collaboration and Document Sharing Platform
For your business to run smoothly and not get buried by the weight of rapid scaling, it’s important you nail the in-team communication to the T. Therefore one of the must-have tools is a platform where your teams can collaborate in real-time. Naturally, it needs to be easily accessible to all, especially if you work with a remote team or in a hybrid environment. Most SaaS platforms are great for this purpose.
Of course, this means you need a centralised outlet for document sharing too as the two go hand in hand. While this should be self-explanatory and a basic setting for most platforms, there are plenty of instances when it’s not the case. Simply because it is not something every company needs and, as we’ve mentioned multiple times now, there is software designed for everyone out there. That said, we recommend trying out the tool of your interest before committing - whether by a free trial or a demo.
Holiday and Employee Expense Management
Given every employee is entitled to a minimum of annual days off by law, holiday management should be a no-brainer. However, lack of attention to it can lead to you being understaffed in the most busy period. Or, you may accidentally count vital employees being off out of an equation when coming up with a forecast. Not to mention there are more complicated matters such as holiday carryovers, different types of employees (eg freelancers) and other intricacies. A holiday management system in place is certainly a requirement.
Expense management is another such grey area. In theory, it is easy - the workers submit expenses and provide receipts as proof. But again, in reality, there are more intricacies, and many businesses don’t have a clear process in place to begin with. Not to mention, things like physical receipts are easy to be lost and, if many expenses are accumulated over an extended period of time, submitting them all in one go can be a time-consuming task. A designated platform with a straightforward process that records everything on the go is massive help. It makes the process as simple as it should be.
Tools for External Operations
That said, the client-serving side of the business shouldn’t be forgotten either. When businesses scale, they often stop providing personalised experiences to their audience. This is a grave mistake, but the right tools can help you avoid making it.
Invoice Automation
On its own, invoicing isn’t a difficult or time-consuming task. The problems with it begin with the increase in volumes, something you can expect to grow rapidly as you scale. And it’s best you adopt a solution before you face the problem. Not to mention, even when you aren’t overloaded, manual invoicing is susceptible to human error. As a rule, mistakes in documentation related to finances can be devastating to client relationships, even if both parties understand them being unintentional. Trust is very easy to break.
That said, a solution that raises and distributes invoices in your stead, pulling data from other tools like a timesheet software or similar, is a blessing. Not to mention, you can control what invoice is being delivered to the client at what frequency or what time. It is especially handy when your clients get onboarded and started at different times and you are flexible with the payment dates.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Even as your client list grows, no matter how quickly, you need to maintain and nourish relationships with them. It’s easy when there are only a few as you can give each attention, resulting in personalised experiences and whatnot. But it’s very different when you have more clients than employees. This is when a CRM comes into play. It gives you an overview of each client, potential client and an overall lead, allowing you to tailor your further communication.
CRMs are vital for both, sales and marketing, to approach, study and communicate with the contacts. Not to mention, it helps these two departments to be aligned, something that is vital to ensure your communication remains consistent on all channels. CRM systems also let you stay in the loop of how your deals are progressing, when it’s the time for potential renewals, and what your financial forecasts are. They can also be used for marketing purposes such as personalised automated emails, newsletters and many more.
Mix and Match
As with most things in life, don’t be limited by a label. The truth is no tool is strictly categorised to be one thing or another. Most SaaS platforms are highly customisable, meaning you have the freedom to set them up to run in the way you need them to.
Let Your Tools Serve Multiple Purposes
Just because we’ve listed some tools as best for internal or external operations, doesn’t mean they strictly belong in that category. As a rule, most of the tools can be applied pretty much anywhere in your business by simply tweaking their setup. There are no rules for what features must be involved in what processes. If it works for you to utilise a platform not in a traditional way, you should absolutely go for it.
Not to mention, when you link the tools with each other, you are bound to unlock new features and create mixed workflows. Through integrations, you naturally expend the capacity of each tool individually as they are now involved in multiple operations and not bound to a specific type. When you’re building a digital toolbox, this is exactly what you want - for your tools to work in tandem. The smoother and more hands-free your processes are, the easier it is to cope with the growing pains of a rapidly scaling business for you don’t get overwhelmed by the sudden growth of task volumes.
Summary
While a rapidly scaling business can be a difficult beast to tame, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. One reason we recommend a sustainable growth approach instead is because mismanagement can lead to the said scaling coming to an equally instant halt. But we also understand the circumstances are different. So if you’re in this predicament, the best you can do is equip yourself with the right tools.
While specific solutions will vary depending on the organisation, there are specific tools every rapidly scaling business should have at their disposal. Setting them up correctly and utilising them to better your processes will help with the growing pains, as well as keep the momentum going. What’s more, each tool can be used in other areas of your business as you move along. Remember, never stop experimenting. It can lead to great discoveries.
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