Growth is a key goal for every small business, but scaling up takes more than passion and hard work. Without the right foundation, increases in demand and higher revenue can lead to chaos instead of growth. And as a small business leader, you have to navigate the behind-the-scenes work to ensure your business expands while keeping its values and customers at its heart.

To scale up your business, look beyond your day-to-day responsibilities and consider the big picture. Shift your mindset from “how do I get this done today?” to “how do we get this done efficiently 1,000 times next year?” If you’re not sure how to answer those questions for your small business, these strategies are a great starting point.

1. Master Your Pricing Strategy

Small businesses are often hesitant to raise their prices, as they typically operate on thin margins, and owners fear alienating existing customers. However, raising your prices by just 1% can increase your profit by as much as 10%. If you’re looking to scale up your business, you’ll need ample cash flow that does more than simply cover costs.

To effectively grow your cash reserves, you need a pricing model that reflects the value you provide while remaining competitive within your business’ niche. Review your current pricing to ensure it accounts for all overhead, including the “invisible” costs of leadership and administration. 

Then, consider how you can adjust your pricing to make your business more profitable. This requires you to have a deep understanding of:

• Your industry and competitors: Other businesses set the baseline for what your products and services should cost. If you’re pricing your products lower than your competitors, you might be leaving money on the table. If you price your products higher than your competitors, you risk alienating potential customers.

• Your audience: Ideally, you should already have customer personas created. Analyze them and consider what they prioritize in your products or services. Are they looking for the cheapest option? Are they willing to pay more for something of higher quality? Aligning your prices with the value your customers perceive allows you to capture more revenue without losing business.
• Your distinct value: Ask yourself, what do you offer that no one else does? Unique selling points may justify a higher price point, but you must also consider other factors as you adjust the price of your products and services.

Let’s take thrift store pricing as an example. A thrift store that’s dedicated to selling various used items at low prices to support a nonprofit will naturally price inventory differently than a secondhand store that only sources one-of-a-kind antiques. This is because they each have different values and different audiences, even though they exist within the same industry.

With a solid understanding of the three factors above, you can confidently adjust your rates as you work toward your growth goals. If you’re concerned about how your audience will react, make small, incremental upward changes and observe how they impact your business.

2. Standardize Your Processes

As a small business owner, you might be running everything by yourself, or you might have a few other team members backing you up. If you want to scale your business, you’ll likely need to hire more employees to keep up with the growth. As a result, standardizing your processes and workflows will become more important than ever.

To grow without chaos, focus on moving knowledge out of your head and into clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Focus on documenting these core areas first to reduce your business’ dependency on you as the owner:

• Daily operations
• Customer service protocols
• Financial reporting
• Marketing campaigns
• Employee onboarding

Great SOPs ensure that the quality of your products and services remains high, even as you expand your business and its team. Plus, having documented processes helps you save time as a leader, as effective SOPs reduce day-to-day reliance on your expertise, freeing you up to focus on more big-picture tasks.

3. Invest in Scalable Technology

As you scale your business, it becomes less and less feasible to manage all your workflows through pen and paper or spreadsheets. Instead, free up your time and your employees’ time by investing in technology that makes everyday tasks easier and more efficient.

Here are a few tools your small business should purchase as your budget allows:

• Point of sale (POS) system: A POS system allows you to easily process payments and integrate your sales data directly with your back-office tools.

• Inventory management platform: This solution enables you to maintain a real-time understanding of your stock levels, preventing dead stock and stockouts. 

• Customer relationship management system (CRM): A dedicated CRM tracks every customer interaction and purchase history to help you build stronger community relationships.

• Accounting software: Maintain financial visibility with tools that handle invoicing, expense tracking, and tax preparation.
• Project management tools: Centralized project management tools keep all your employees aligned on tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities.

In certain cases, your small business may be able to invest in a single solution that includes multiple essential capabilities. For example, ThriftCart’s guide to thrift store POS systems explains that these solutions often have features for inventory management, customer management, employee management, sales tracking, donations, e-commerce, and reporting and analytics.

Do your research to determine which solution works best for your needs. Remember that an all-in-one solution will make it easier to scale in the future, so try to invest in a tool that can grow alongside your business by allowing you to only pay for the features you need right now.

4. Focus on Customer Retention

Depending on which industry you’re in, acquiring a new customer is about five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing customer. As you focus on scaling up, don’t neglect the customer base that helped you get to where you are today.

Implement strategies designed to increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and improve the customer experience. This can include:

• Launching a loyalty program that rewards repeat customers
• Personalizing outreach to align with customer interests
• Offer VIP access to exclusive sales to top customers
• Building a digital customer community on social media platforms
• Creating subscription options

For example, in the case of massage businesses, MassageBook recommends creating membership programs that include different perks, tiers, and pricing. This is because these programs create a predictable revenue stream that improves customer satisfaction and encourages repeat business. Predictable revenue means that these types of businesses are less reliant on promotions, walk-ins, and seasonal swings, which in turn makes scaling much less risky.

5. Build a High-Performing Team

Ultimately, you can’t scale your business if you are the bottleneck for every decision. If your employees need your oversight to complete all of their tasks, you’ll soon find yourself lacking the time needed to make operational changes for growth. The key here is a high-performing team that can operate without your constant supervision.

Hire individuals who align with your company values and empower them to take ownership of their roles. Focus on hiring for potential and cultural fit, then train for skill. You may even invest in certifications to help team members think for themselves and solve problems independently—this can look like skills training for employees or leadership training for yourself.

When you trust your team to handle the day-to-day operations, you free up your mental energy to focus on high-level strategy and long-term vision. Remember, a scalable business is one that can run—and grow—even when you are on vacation.

Scaling a small business requires infrastructure, financial discipline, and a leadership mindset. With these strategies, you can establish a solid foundation that positions your business for successful and stable growth. Reach out to Concord Leadership Group for executive coaching if you want to learn more about professionally developing your leadership skills for business growth.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kyle Payton

With three years in the thrift industry during a pivotal shift to omnichannel selling, Kyle Payton helps stores better manage inventory and forecast product needs. As General Manager at ThriftCart, he focuses on equipping nonprofit thrift operations with point of sale technology that makes their day-to-day operations easier. Kyle’s passion lies in helping thrift store managers embrace digital solutions that support their unique mission and maximize their impact in the community. “Supporting nonprofits is incredibly rewarding. I’m here to provide thrift store managers with the tools they need to thrive, so they can continue making a positive difference in their communities.”