Start-Up to Grown-Up: becoming a grown up business

When you first start your business, the chances are you’re making it up as you go along. You have big ambitions and you know your field, but you’re small – maybe only a handful of people. Everyone is doing everything, and you have to be fluid and reactive to keep up with the market.

At some point your business reaches a kind of critical mass, a point at which you stop and think, ‘what do I want from this?’ Is your business going to just be a ‘lifestyle’ business, providing what you need but dependent on you as the owner, or do you want to make it more than that?

The key to moving to that next level is learning how to be a grown up business.

A grown up business needs a leader who can delegate.

Devolving responsibility means your team’s strengths are put to best use, and you’re free to work on strategy for growth without worrying about the day to day running of the place. Taking an objective view on management enables you to create a structure that works for your business. Management is usually process-driven rather than creative, and if you’re an entrepreneur your skills might not be ideal for it! Being able to honestly appraise your own abilities and weak spots, and plan accordingly, is crucial to building a foundation for growth.

Growing up your business often starts with clever recruitment.

Putting the right people in the right place, and making sure their skills are used to best advantage, is hugely important. Strategic hiring can take you from a place where you’re doing everything yourself to a place where people better than you at doing their jobs are taking care of those parts of the business that don’t come within your natural abilities.

Recruiting people with specialist skills is of course easier when you offer the right salary and a dynamic workplace that appeals to them. Getting the best – and keeping them – requires more than this. Often the talent you want has to be lured away from bigger companies, companies that offer things you don’t, and your potential hires don’t want to lose what they have already. This is where the right employee benefits can make a huge difference.

Put a ‘grown up’ structure in place.

A grown up business doesn’t just stick with the same format year in, year out. You need to refine and develop both your processes and your people, and this takes planning. You don’t want a structure that’s bureaucratic, but you do need something that’s clear, with devolved responsibility and defined roles.

Crucially, a grown up business can’t be dependent on just one or two people. Handing over management responsibility is part of this, but taking precautions against damage to the business if someone senior were to suddenly become ill, for example, is also sensible. There are various kinds of business protection insurance; for example, Key Person Cover pays a lump sum to make up for any loss in revenue or profits should the worst happen and one of your key people dies. You can also get Disability Cover to protect your business if a key person is unable to work through serious illness.

Training is another area that can fall by the wayside. You want results, but how can you teach someone to do something you can’t do yourself? To develop your team to their full potential, you need external input. Whether it’s training courses for certain skills, or ongoing management coaching, investing in development should be part of your grown up structure.

Take care of your people

Your people are your business. They’re who you rely on to get things done, keep customers happy, and maintain your growth. Recognising the value of your employees and acting accordingly doesn’t just help you to keep them on board – people who feel appreciated at work perform better and are more likely to go the extra mile. Creating a culture of recognition, reward and care within your business should be part of your plan in becoming a grown up business.

Employee benefits are a big help here, but getting them as a small business can be a minefield. You can find plenty of information online, but when it comes to actually buying, the whole process is complicated and often costly. Some advisors find it difficult to work with smaller companies purely on the basis of their size but Hooray Health & Protection are an employee benefits specialist who can help companies of any size.