Ten steps to growing your business

I was recently asked about our company’s rapid growth, and more specifically, how did we achieve it? So, I thought I would share my ten steps to implementing growth within your company structure. We are a Berlin real estate company, but these steps don’t only apply to working in the property market. You can follow them in any field and be rewarded with results.

The most important foundation for growth is structure. Develop frameworks within which you can scale your business. A clear structure provides consistency, internally for your team, as well as in service and performance, which your partners and clients will always appreciate. Being consistent in your practices, communication, and basically every aspect of your business structure will allow you to innovate, optimise, improve, and grow. It’s that simple!

So, here are my ten steps to growing your business:

 1.    Understand your current structure:
chart your team members’ functions and positions, duties, titles, and responsibilities. 

2.    Create a ‘ground zero’ structure:
forget for a minute what your team make-up is, your company’s commitments to partners and clients, and create your ideal structure that best suits your own individual business model. Interestingly, Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends study found that 23% of those surveyed reported that in their company, most work is done in teams in the framework of functional hierarchies; and 53% of those surveyed said that they experienced a significant improvement in performance after transitioning to a team-based structure.

3.    Assign tasks:
ask yourself “what tasks need to be executed regularly?”, and assign them across your team to members who have the skills to perform them.

4.    Create a chain of command: 
ensure that everyone knows to whom they should report, and who should report to them.

5.    Communicate:
make your structure crystal clear. Complete transparency amongst your team about your entire company structure is a strength. Individual team members can refer to it if ever they have any doubt about their responsibilities or the company hierarchy.

 Congratulations, you have created a strong and flexible structure! The next five steps will help you to grow your business from this foundation:

 6.    Chase the sun:
now that you have your ideal structure, and your entire team knows it inside out, it’s time to start growing. You have long-term goals and a grand vision? That’s great, your dreams are important! However, think about chasing the sun. You can see it setting, beautiful and huge on the horizon, and you want to be close enough to reach out and grab it. But no matter how fast you run towards the sun, it keeps its distance. Plan out your medium-term goals between where you are now and that far-off horizon. Think of your long-term goals as the inspiration and drive that allows you to execute your medium-term goals.

7.    Value your team:
foster an environment of motivation, experimentation, and constant learning. Be generous in sharing your expertise and time with your employees, and in turn they will be motivated to work hard and learn constantly. Check out this video we made for more thoughts on team building.

8.    Listen hard:
customer and client feedback is most useful when you don’t like what you are hearing. When you think that you have completely understood what your customers are saying about your business, ask more questions.

9.    The growth nitty gritty:
look at the cold hard numbers, budget, and cash flow for your expansion, and then be strong, confident, and ask for advice from someone with more knowledge and experience than you. If, at this stage, you think you have all the answers, then you definitely don’t have all the questions.

10. Get rid of what you don’t need:
as you grow, you will find that some practices, partners, and tools aren’t necessary any more. Avoid romanticising their value to your company in the past. Ask yourself “do we still need X in order to achieve X?” If the answer is “No”, then wave goodbye and forge on ahead without it.

So, I hope this helps you, and let me know what effect implementing these steps has had on your business.

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