How to scale
your business – checklist

How to scale
your business – checklist

Scaling your business can seem like a daunting process. This checklist can help you navigate some of the common pitfalls of scaling and decide whether the process is right for your business – before you start.

<p>Scaling your business can seem like a daunting process. This checklist can help you navigate some of the common pitfalls of scaling and decide whether the process is right for your business – before you start.</p>

Scaling your business can seem like a daunting process. This checklist can help you navigate some of the common pitfalls of scaling and decide whether the process is right for your business – before you start.

Please note

This checklist does not guarantee that your scaling journey will be successful. However, we hope it gives you an idea of what is involved and how you can prepare. You may need to consider more or less information about your business than what is set out below. This will change depending on the individuals involved.

Stage 1: Understand your offering

Is there a real need for your product or service? Who will buy it and why? Does the market want it?
If someone else is already creating your product or service, is your offering better than theirs? What is your competitive advantage? If you have first-mover advantage, is your product future-proofed against other products?
What’s the overall market size? Is there an opportunity to continue innovating or to expand overseas?

Stage 2: Get your house in order

Is your record-keeping rigorous? Have you moved beyond accounting on a spreadsheet?
Do you know how to avoid mismanaging working capital? Do you have plans for short-term and long-term financing? Do you have a plan for new projects that working capital wouldn’t cover?
Do you have key performance indicators you keep under review?

Stage 3: Refine your strategy

What’s the ultimate vision? Have you involved the wider team beyond the board in formulating your strategy? Is everyone in the business working towards the same goals?
Do you have the right team in place? If not, what skills do you need in any new employees you hire?
Where is your funding coming from? Do you understand your short-term and long-term funding requirements, and how different funders may play a role?

Stage 4: Understand the aspects of scaling your business

ELITE’S Growth Compass identifies 10 key dimensions of growth: people, operations and processes, innovation, financial management and access to finance, digitalisation, growth strategy, risk management, market orientation, corporate governance, internationalisation. Have you logged in to ELITE to assess your strengths and development areas?
Have you come up with a concrete action plan for 12 months, three years and five years down the line? What are the most important areas to focus on? Have you prioritised those key areas of development by time?

Stage 5: Seek help and advice

Whether through an organised programme like ELITE, or by talking to other businesses at networking events, sharing challenges and ideas with like-minded entrepreneurs can help you grow.
Do you have a mentor you can run problems by? Do you attend talks by industry leaders? Are you part of a professional network?

Involve your team in creating your strategy

“Formulating your strategy shouldn’t be a top-down operation. By making your employees co-strategists, you’ll unite your team behind the final goal. And that alignment is so important – without it, executing the strategy can become chaotic.”

Umerah Akram Head of ELITE UK and International
Umerah Akram, Head of ELITE UK and International

About ELITE

ELITE is London Stock Exchange Group’s international business support and capital raising programme for ambitious and fast-growing companies. The programme offers education, support, mentoring and access to expertise and funding. Today, there are over 900 international companies in the ELITE community, from more than 30 countries, including 135 companies from across the UK.