Business success is all about timing. Making the best decisions at the right times and avoiding mistakes at critical moments is crucial. And at no point does this matter more than during times of growth and expansion.
Small businesses in the process of growing have one chance to get it right. Make the wrong moves and focus on the wrong things and you soon find yourself wishing you were back at the starting block.
The good news is that business owners making plans to expand don’t need to go at it alone. There exists a variety of outside services that specialize in providing useful assistance to companies in the process of expansion.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at seven essential outside services for growing small businesses:
Digital marketing services
Small businesses rely a lot on word-of-mouth advertising and social media marketing. That works well for a while, but once you make the decision to expand your business, it’s time to hand your day-to-day marketing tasks to the professionals. Digital marketing agencies provide small businesses with the tools, resources, and insights needed to make the most of their brand, product, and reputation. They’re also more likely to generate campaigns with higher returns on investment.
Accounting services
Do the math; will you be able to keep up with bookkeeping when everything from payroll to sales to expenses increases on the other side of business expansion? If the answer is anything other than a confident ‘yes’, you’re better off finding accounting outsourcing services that specialize in providing bookkeeping for small businesses. These services are especially vital for companies in the process of expanding across borders and overseas.
Legal services
There’s a reason why those who want to be lawyers must go to law school and pass the bar exam prior to being allowed to practice. The law is exceptionally complex and the ability to navigate everything from contracts to criminal defense requires a level of expertise and knowledge that can’t be acquired with a few seminars. While the average business owner is unlikely to require the full gauntlet of legal services, they’ll more than likely need help with contracts, regulatory hurdles, and the occasional lawsuit. With this in mind, small businesses in the process of expansion should have a reliable business lawyer available to answer questions and address legal matters as they materialize.
HR services
Small business owners are expected to wear many different hats, one of which is the hiring hat. Unfortunately, the process of finding, interviewing, hiring, and paying employees becomes more complex and difficult to manage on your own when the business goes from small to big. While you could a small fortune assembling your own human resources department, the easier and more affordable option is to have an outside HR service handle these matters on your behalf.
Cybersecurity services
It’s easy to shrug off cybersecurity if your business has never been a target of ransomware or other malicious attacks. But waiting until it’s too late to get cybersecurity protection can prove disastrous, especially for businesses in the process of growing. With this in mind, you may want to find a reputable cybersecurity firm that specializes in providing businesses with all the bells and whistles they need to avoid becoming the victim of cybercrime.
Payment services
Payment gateways and payment processors are essential in today’s digital world. If you have customers all over the world, then you need a streamlined way for them to pay for goods and services. Considering the number of currencies out there, doing so on your own is practically impossible. The good news is there’s no shortage of payment services available for small businesses.
Supply services
It’s hard to find a business that doesn’t rely on supplies of some kind. From office supplies to the materials needed for manufacturing, companies need suppliers to guarantee they have what they need to keep things running smoothly. In today’s world of supply chain shortages, supply services are more important than ever, especially for businesses in the process of growing.
Are you a business owner making plans to grow and expand? If so, you’ll need all the help you can get in the form of various outside services.
Julie Steinbeck is a freelance writer from Florida. She enjoys writing about business, finance, health, and travel.
