Tackling scale

[RogueInnovation]

Many entrepenuerial understandings are earnt rather than learnt.
Past few weeks I've been focusing on earning an understanding of scale. Here are some of the resulting thoughts.

The first thing I learnt was that it was about a change in mindset from "my business will fail/succeed" to a more realistic outlook "as my business struggles and as things change how am I ensuring that I am not only there tomorrow but am coming in with powerful tools that can impact changes and make those next evolutionary leaps in our biz model". You can't assume failure or success, as it is a distraction from process which is always present and will never go away. You have to assume the path will be HARD and you have to BE awesome, and you have to get to that place so you are not playing catchup at every turn.
Bring yourself all the info you need so it is all at your fingertips to mastermind and adjust.

Anyways, that was the first insight, I then turned it into a task, ticked it off. The next idea was trying to understand the aspect of scaling that relates with products. I tried creating some prototypes on the fly for products away from my main business just to see how my execution skills were without the home field advantage. After enough tests of random product prototypes I scanned some youtube stuff and found a new need that I could create a new line of products for that could be a cheaper impulse purchase that starts a customer's relationship with my brand.
The thing that taught me about scale, is that sometimes scale comes from the smaller impulse items, that create an engaging first contact with the customer and start a longer relationship.

If you don't want to take a giant leap into millions of customers, they might only want to nibble at the edges too. The street goes both ways.

The third insight on scale, was that by creating product lines at regular intervals (rather than adhoc) you can intensify customer relationships and remove any lingering "strings" attatched to your services, or "service threats" (where you threaten to rescind service because xyz happened).

So what I started doing was, creating a "standard line", such as standards that each "line" must meet. Each line serves one need, and if customer demand is high enough, a second line of that product should be made either regular or rolled out in a second version with a team on that.

Another aspect of scaling was that each line can be organised to communicate with our customers. An earlier release, a new surprise product etc, these things can communicate things to our customers. Creating this level of communication and interactivity is something I feel is key for scale in that it helps create the brand connection.


Refining everything:
Sales funnel, Business structure, Future plans
Nothing is going to be totally fixed, so I needed to departmentalise/compartmentalise different aspects of the business so they can be worked on and refined. It is rather like drilling a good punch over and over, then drilling the next punch, it helps you keep the effort balanced and therefor allows you to manage an even growth structure with few major weaknesses.

 

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