by Natalia Jones

Created on: January 12, 2010

Certain types of businesses struggle to achieve growth because they are dependant on the skills or even the personality of their founder. Artists, motivational speakers or even business consultants may find it hard to expand beyond a certain plateau because there is only so much one person can be expected to accomplish.

While expansion for these business models is not a simple matter of managing cash flows and increasing capacity, it is also not an impossible feat.

The following are some tips to achieve business growth when your success is tied to a particular individual.

Analyze the Business Parts to Find a Way to Automate

While a large portion of the business process might seem and may in fact be dependant on one individual, the entire process does not have to be. If you analyze your processes you will be able to identify ways that you can extract yourself and focus instead on the more integral job functions. In the case of an artist for instance, you may be able to allow someone else to market and sell your work while you devote all your time to produces fresh pieces. The business consultant and motivational speaker may do the same by passing the responsibility of sourcing and booking new business to someone else and focus instead on performing the core function.

Outsource Less Important Functions

As indicated above, sometimes to grow it is necessary to outsource the less important functions. Every business is comprised of core functions and less important peripheral or supporting tasks that can be outsourced. Marketing, sales, accounting and even filing can be taken care of by other people without affecting the end product.

Offer Less Labor Intensive Products or Services

You may be able to expand your line of products and services by branching off into less labor intensive areas. For instance, the business consultant or motivational speaker can write a book or develop and patent a course of study that can continue to bring in income while they go on to deliver their original service. The artist can also do this by possibly making prints of their work available at a lower cost for delivery over the internet. The aim is to think of a way to develop an additional income stream that can operate independently while you continue to do what you have always done.

Build a Strong Brand

Lastly, another way of achieving exponential growth, while holding on to the essence of what makes your product or service unique, is to build a strong brand. If your product or service is widely recognizable and associated with quality, it may not matter who does the final delivery. In the case of the business consultant or the motivational speaker, course material can be delivered by a number of trained professionals with great success because it is backed by your name. The artist can capitalize on this as well because if they are appreciated by the masses their prints will capture the portion of the market that may not be able to afford an original but this will not devalue the original piece in any way.

The lesson here is that there are always ways to expand your business. Sometimes greater levels of creativity and innovation may be required but if you envision growth and stick to a plan you can achieve it regardless of the field you happen to be in.

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