All models of the stages of business growth eventually discuss the topic of expansion.
This is exactly what it sounds like: the point where your business has established itself in a market and is primed to increase its reach. It’s a point where you might decide to add more employees, seek more revenue by finding other markets to expand into, or add another office across town.
This stage requires commitment to realistic goals and the addition of support channels like a business phone system. Let’s look at two perspectives of this stage and the role a professional phone system plays in getting you ready to face it.
The Success-Growth Substage
Back in 1983, the Harvard Business Review published a study of various small business growth stages.
It remarked that, within five primary stages, a small business can reach the Success-Growth substage. In that substage, the company will need to lean on its cash reserves to develop greater management capabilities while remaining profitable enough to keep its growth afloat.
Growth and Maintenance
Similarly, the FusePhase blog notes that, in its discussion of the four stages of business growth, that businesses can reach an Expansion (Maintenance) phase.
“This is the stage when your hard work seems to be paying off,” it says before pointing out that up-to-date financial records are important here because – you guessed it – hiring additional staff in order to scale the business will become a primary concern.
The Role of a Business Phone System
Where does a phone system fit into all this?
No matter which set of business growth stages you subscribe to, it’s inevitable that your growth from small- to medium-size business (and again from medium-size to enterprise) will attract more attention from customers. You will need to reach beyond online chat software to handle their concerns.
Allowing customers to speak to a live sales representative can offer a more personalized purchasing journey than an online form can provide. Likewise, a live customer support network can help easily smooth troubleshooting tickets.
Businesses in the growth stage don’t have to spend a lot of money to gain this presence. VirtualPBX Per Minute Plans offer expanding companies the chance to add unlimited users to their phone systems while gaining features like Auto Attendant and Ring Groups to route inbound calls to all their new hires.
You can boost your growth stage today with a new phone plan from VirtualPBX. And when the time comes, you can upgrade plans when your business reaches yet another expansion point toward enterprise status. Your midsize business will thank you now, and your enterprise will continue to see benefits when it moves beyond the present tipping point.
